Stories that Make History by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Lee Ok-seon.

To have a more effective meeting, I looked through her testimony that was posted on the website of the Gyeongnam People’s Association for Halmoni and watched the program “Issues and People” that was broadcast on SBS in 1997. From these two sources of data, I found out that she had returned home to find her remaining family in South Korea, and that she had been ashamed of her history as a comfort girl-woman.

I could not imagine that Lee halmoni was ashamed of the fact that she was a comfort girl-woman. This was because what I had seen so far about her had been confidently shedding light on the fact that having been a comfort girl-woman was not a shameful thing and the fact that the responsibility lies with the Japanese government. Furthermore, although she first tried to come back to Korea for the personal reason of finding her family, over time, that reason shifted to ‘This problem must be resolved while I am still living.’

Also, Lee Ok-seon halmoni, who was always praying and thinking about the family members she left behind in China, would boast and share her worries about her family whenever she had the chance. She recollected her memories of her son who cannot hear well because of the ear surgery he had when he was little, her very obedient daughter-in-law, and her two smart grandchildren as though they were rewards for her hard life in China. She told me the story of how she tried to kill herself because her life was just too hard, but that she has lived until now because of her son.

My second meeting with Lee halmoni took place at the Korean Council office in early September 2002 after the Wednesday rally. She took her seat and slowly told me the stories of her life, one by one, in order. However, as the story moved on to the times after the liberation, her voice began to tremble a little bit, and the changes in her emotions became varied as well. When she started the story about when she met her first love after the liberation, I could even feel her light excitement. When the story reached her second marriage after she parted from her first love, she gave a speech about how hard her marriage had been, and saying “Life has become a lot easier for married people these days” to me who was married, she emphasized her difficult life and even let out a light sigh.

As the interview continued, Lee Ok-seon halmoni talked about her second husband’s son and daughter. While telling me their stories and going into great details, from her impressions of her children and their characters to even their medical histories, she who seemed so strong, ultimately, broke down in tears. She again began reminiscing when she was telling the story of how she raised her son until the day that she left China and how much that son regarded her with love, saying, “There is a deeper love in raising a child than just having given birth to him.

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