International Taiwan Studies Center Lecture Series 2023 國際台灣學研究中心演講系列
Sponsored by Higher Education Sprout Project 高等教育深耕計畫
Speaker: Yoshihisa Amae 天江喜久（Ph.D. in political science, University of Hawaii at Manoa）
Topic: Left Behind: Korean Women in Postcolonial Taiwan and Their Predicament
Time: October 3, 2023, 14:30-16:30
Venue: Department of Taiwan Culture, Languages and Literature
(Yunhe Street No 1 Conference Room 3rd Floor台灣語文學系3樓會議室)
Language: English
Contact: 賀安娟教授電子郵件annheylen@ntnu.edu.tw
Abstract:
Little is known about the more than four hundred ethnic Koreans who remained in Taiwan after the end of World War Two. Among them were nearly fifty single young women. Prewar records and studies suggest that they were mostly sex workers who were trafficked from Korea in the 1930s and 40s and forced to work in the local brothels. Some of them became “comfort women” during the war and worked in comfort stations around Taiwan as well as in Japanese occupied territories in China and Southeast Asia. Based on declassified government archive materials in the Academia Historica 國史館 and National Archive Administration 國家檔案管理局 as well as oral history, and interviews I conducted with senior members of the Korean community in Taiwan, I will attempt to shed light on the lives of these women who stayed in Taiwan. These women, who were marginalized due to their ethnicity, gender, and social status as former sex workers deserve a voice. Why did they stay and what was their postcolonial experience like in a land that was not their home? By taking a closer look at their experiences in postcolonial Taiwan, I wish to revisit the discussions on “Korean comfort women” and challenge the mainstream narrative that portrays them as “perfect victims,” which neglects the prewar historical situation.
