MILITARY BROTHELS DURING WW2

[Anchor Lead]

During its colonization of Korea, Japan carried out an operation in Korea's Jejudo Island and stationed some 78-thousand troops there until its defeat in World War Two. Testimony and a research paper have come forward for the first time showing that Japan operated military brothels also on the Korean island.

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Oh Si-jong lived 91 years in the Seongsan area on Jeju-do Island. There is a reason why he cannot forget about this particular house with a green iron roof. In the spring of 1945 just before Korea's independence, this place was used as a brothel serving Japan's Yokaren troops who carried out suicide missions. Their distinguishing features include a uniform with seven buttons.

[Soundbite] OH SI-JONG(WITNESS TO JAPAN'S WARTIME BROTHEL OPERATION IN JEJU-DO ISLAND) : "Men wearing suits with 7 buttons frequented the place."

Oh mentioned two locations in the Seongsan area where such wartime brothels operated. It marks the first ever testimony pointing to their existence in Jeju-do as well as the exact location. Based on his statements, a research paper has also been published arguing that Japanese brothels also existed on the Southern island. To support the claim, researchers at Jeju National University presented records of the Yokaren. The records show the soldiers had such facilities in the Seongsan area. However the evidence is still insufficient with just one witness and not much more data to back it up.

[Soundbite] PROF. CHO SUNG-YOUN(JEJU NAT'L UNIVERSITY) : "We should have researched what form the brothels existed and how they operated. So much time has passed now."

The researchers will continue to seek out more witnesses and related records and also conduct a comparison study involving other Japanese brothels that were set up on mainland Japan, China and Taiwan.