To prevent forced mobilization of Koreans from escaping... 39 ‘industrial comfort stations’ confirmed across Japan (comprehensive)

Mainichi "Hokkaido, Fukuoka, Nagasaki, etc... teenage Korean women are also mobilized"

The Embassy in Japan’s government audit was also cut… Point out, “I don’t understand.”

(Seoul, Tokyo = Yonhap News) Reporter Choi I-rak and Correspondent Lee Do-yeon = The Mainichi Shimbun reported on the 12th that it was discovered that at least 39 so-called 'industrial comfort stations' were operated near military industrial facilities in Japan where Korean workers who were forcibly mobilized by Japan during the Sino-Japanese War and the Pacific War were deployed.

According to the newspaper, Professor Masaru Tonomura of the University of Tokyo and the Koryo Museum (located in Shinjuku, Tokyo), a non-profit organization (NPO), conducted literature and field research to confirm this information.

As a result of the investigation, it was found that there were at least 39 industrial comfort stations (corporate comfort stations) in and near coal mines and mines across the country, where many of the approximately 700,000 forcibly mobilized Koreans were stationed. The women who dealt with workers at these facilities were also from the Korean Peninsula.

The main installation areas are Hokkaido, Fukuoka, and the Hashima (aka Battleship Island) coal mine in Nagasaki Prefecture.

As Korean workers continued to escape due to harsh working conditions, Japan and companies encouraged the use of Korean restaurants by transforming them into industrial comfort stations, prostitution facilities exclusively for Koreans, as part of 'labor measures'.

A 1945 thesis submitted to the Coal Control Board, Japan's national policy control agency at the time, stated that "Special comfort stations are, simply put, sexual redress centers," and that "approximately 10 Korean women should be placed per 1,000 Korean workers to prevent escape and encourage motivation to increase production."

The Goryeo Museum explained, “The plan to allocate Korean women to Korean workers involved a combination of discrimination against women and ethnic groups.”

In particular, it was discovered that many young girls in their teens were among the women mobilized to serve on-site customers.

This report was also discussed at the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee audit held at the Embassy in Japan on this day.

Referring to this report, Rep. Cha Ji-ho of the Democratic Party of Korea raised the issue, saying, "It is an important issue, but why is it not understood and why was it discovered late? There may be more records from the local government."

He then requested data from the Japanese government, asking them to "report in detail how this will be investigated and whether this issue will be used as a lever for new issues and negotiations, as well as a comprehensive audit."

In response to this, Ambassador to Japan Lee Hyuk responded that he would request data and discuss it in earnest.