Han Ji-min and Song Joong-ki, a heartwarming good deed

August 14th, the day before Liberation Day, is the day to commemorate the victims of Japanese military ‘comfort women’. Stars who posted posts to raise awareness of the Japanese military comfort women issue both at home and abroad, and who spread good influence through donations, are being reexamined.

The 14th, the Japanese Military Comfort Women Victims' Remembrance Day, is the day when Kim Hak-soon, a victim, first testified about her victimization. Commemoration Day, which had been held only in the private sector, has been designated as a national holiday since December 2017. Celebrities also added their own meaning to the 'comfort women' grandmother.

First is Song Hye-kyo, who has been consistently engaging in history-related activities. He narrated the MBC March 1st special documentary ‘Grandma is Back’. The broadcast contained the story of grandmother Lee Yong-su, a victim of comfort women for the Japanese military. Lee Yong-su, 96 years old, is one of the 10 remaining 'comfort women' victims. The grandmother's story became widely known through Song Hye-kyo's voice. It made me think about the damage done to comfort women once again.

Actress Han Ji-min has also shown warm actions. In 2008, he donated to the 'House of Sharing', which honors comfort women victims, and in 2019, he attended the commemoration ceremony for Comfort Women Victims Memorial Day and read a letter. He appeared to be in tears as he recited 'To my beloved mother, who was a comfort woman.' His trembling voice and reddened eyes made the viewers cry.

He also made a special appearance in the movie ‘Herstory’. ‘Herstory’ is the story of grandmothers who fought against the Japanese government for six long years from 1992 to 1998, and is based on the true story of a government-run trial that produced meaningful results. Han Ji-min appeared briefly as a teacher, but it was enough to give us a glimpse of his warm heart.

At the time, Han Ji-min said, "Until I looked into the child abuse issue and the comfort women issue in more detail, I was angry and thought about how this could happen when it should not end with an apology. But in reality, that was all." He said, "I watched 'Unfinished Story' and emotions came up that I couldn't put into words, and the problems that the grandmothers felt at the time were not things that could be expressed."

Song Joong-ki donated 20 million won to comfort women victims. This became known belatedly, even though the agency was not aware of it. In 2016, the 'House of Sharing' in Gwangju, Gyeonggi-do said, "In the process of organizing the donation account, we confirmed that the funds were deposited in the name of 'Song Joong-ki' into the fund-raising account for the 'Human Rights Center for Victims of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery'." He continued, “General donors are usually contacted after depositing the donation, but seeing that there was no contact from him or his agency when contacted, it seems that Song Joong-ki donated quietly and personally.”

Encouragement and warm support continues to be given to stars who have shown good influence. I hope this will be a day to honor and remember the pain of comfort women.

Ten Asia Reporter Kim Seo-yoon seogugu@tenasia.co.kr