The New Korea: An Inside Look at South Korea's Economic Rise

78 The New Korea

1923, mobs of Japanese vigilantes massacred hundreds of Koreans

after false rumors were spread that Koreans had taken advantage of

the damage caused by a huge earthquake in Kanto, as well as allega-

tions that Koreans had poisoned the drinking wells.

During World War II, tens of thousands of young Korean women

were forced to become sex slaves. They were taken from their

homes across the Korean peninsula and forced to have sex with

dozens of Japanese soldiers each day in so- called “comfort stations”

across Asia. The women endured horrible suffering and were ostra-

cized from society, and their plight was not recognized publicly until

many decades later, when a few “comfort women” came forward to

tell their stories.

Still, ethnic ...