Kim Bok-dong

Kim Bok-dong (; 19 April 1926 – 28 January 2019) was a human rights activist that campaigned against sexual slavery and war rape. She was a young woman who was put into sexual slavery by the Japanese Imperial Army; a military that recruited girls between the ages of 10 and 18 years of age from colonized and occupied countries from the 1930s until the end of World War II. From age 14, she was put into comfort stations for eight years across different countries in Asia. Her experiences led her to become an activist, and she advocated for the end of war-time sexual violence, anti-imperialism, workers' rights, and inter-Korean reconciliation. Along with the other "comfort women", she made the three-fold demand from the Japanese government: a formal state-level apology, reparations, and correction of Japanese history (including amending Japanese history textbooks to include the truth of the "comfort women" issue). In addition, Kim herself also supported other "comfort women" to step forward, and was a spokesperson in the "comfort women" movement. Kim died in Seoul, South Korea, in a hospital on January 28, 2019.

Biography Kim Bok-dong was born in Yangsan, Gyeongnam, Korea, Empire of Japan in March 1926. Instead, she was put into militarized sexual slavery in Japanese occupied territories for eight years, including Guangdong, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Kim Bok-dong had to have sex every day, especially from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays.

She attempted to commit suicide with two other girls by alcohol poisoning, but Japanese soldiers found them unconscious. The army took them to the hospital and medics revived them by pumping their stomachs. Ten days later, she woke up. She said if her father had been alive, she might not have been helplessly taken away. At age 21 and after the war, Kim returned to her hometown. She did not tell her family what happened to her, except to her mother. However, her mother became very distressed and died from a heart attack. After her husband died she began to speak out, and later joined another woman seeking official recognition as victims of Japanese sex slavery. In 1992, a year after Kim Hak-sun first broke the silence on the issue, Kim Bok-dong finally publicly began to share her experience and detail what happened to her during her time as a sex slave. This was also the year in which she began to participate in the weekly protest, the Wednesday Demonstration, in front of the Japanese Embassy. Then in 1993, Kim attended and testified at the "World Human Rights Conference" in Vienna, Austria. She had also testified during other events in Japan and the United States. Kim traveled around other parts of the world to tell her story and continued to participate in weekly protests. In an interview, Kim stated, "by presenting my testimony, I regain my sense of self and feel supported and connected with other women." Eventually, the KCWD formally established the "Butterfly Fund" in order to accomplish Gil and Kim's objective. The fund began to provide support in the form of $500 per month to a victim support group in the Congo in July 2012. This amount would then be expanded once the Japanese government paid reparations. The first beneficiary of the fund was Rebecca Masika Katsuva. Kim stated, "It will fly high as [an] emancipatory butterfly to many women war victims with the name of the halmeon." The overarching idea behind the fund was to help and network with sexual violence victims in other countries, not only women in the same geographic region as the founders. For example, the fund has been used to aid Vietnamese women who were raped by Korean soldiers from 1964 to 1973 during the Vietnam War. Kim also highlighted that Korea too should make efforts to acknowledge war crimes committed by its own people. Her artwork told her history to future generations. Artwork from the House of Sharing was included in campaigns to raise awareness and educate the global public on the 'comfort women' issue. Her artistic themes included childhood memories, the experience of Japanese military slavery, and her present life and feelings. She worked in paint, woodblock print, and pencil. Her works included The Day a 14 year old Girl is Stolen Away (1998), As Youth Slips Away, and Suddenly I am Old and Grey (1998), Japan Do Not Trespass - Dok Island is Our Land (1998), and The Leaves of that Gaunt Tree will Blossom Someday (1998).