In this episode of East Asia for All, we examine the sexual slavery system that took place under imperial Japan from 1937-1945 through the graphic novel Grass by Korean author Keum Suk Gendry-Kim. Grass tells the life story of Lee Ok-sun, a Korean girl who was forced to be a “comfort woman” for the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II.

We are joined by Dr. Lin Li, Assistant Professor of History at the University of St. Thomas (Saint Paul, MN), on this episode. Dr. Li’s research focuses on the intersections of gender, race, health, and imperialism in East Asia. She is currently working on a book project on the politics of representing and commemorating “comfort women” in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific.

In this minisode, we compare literary representations of Korean women navigating very different social systems. In Friend, the 1988 novel by North Korean writer Paek Nam-Nyong, Judge Jeong Jin-wu attempts to save the marriage of a famous woman singer, Chae Sun-hee, who came to him requesting a divorce from her husband. In the process of Judge Jeong’s investigation, we catch rare and meaningful glimpses of daily life and relationships in North Korea. On the other side of the demilitarized zone author Cho Nam-Joo introduces us to the life of Kim Jiyoung, a South Korean woman struggling with her mental health as a housewife and mother. Kim Jiyoung Born 1982 takes us through Jiyoung’s childhood, adolescence, and early adult life as she navigates South Korean sexism against women.

This is a guest episode from The Channel, a podcast of the International Institute of Asian Studies (IIAS) at Leiden University. This episode features a lecture from Simanti Dasgupta. Simanti is Associate Professor of Anthropology and director of the International Studies Program at the University of Dayton, USA. Her work broadly explores the politics of citizenship and belonging in neoliberal and postcolonial nation-states. In 2021-2022, Simanti was a Research Fellow at the International Institute for Asian Studies. She is currently working on a book manuscript entitled Prophylactic Rights: Sex Work, HIV/AIDS and Anti-Trafficking in Sonagachi, India.