Park, Eunha. (2023). “Perceptions of “Hwanhyangnyeo,” “Wianbu,” “Yang-gongju” Through Example Sentences in Korean Dictionaries and the Internet Articles“. The Sociolinguistic Journal of Korea, 31(2), 29-58. This study investigated and analyzed examples of three terms found in dictionary entries and internet articles to examine the perceptions of war and women in Korean society. A preliminary examination of dictionary entries found that one dictionary’s referred to “hwanhyangnyeo” as a stigmatized term, used to expression hatred toward women even after returning home post the war. In the example sentences of “wianbu,” in the dictionaries, the phrase “other expressions” was commonly used, which precisely conveyed or demanded facts. Entries regarding “wianbu, Japan, and the government’s expressions” generally portrayed a negative view of “wianbu” victims and related issues. Further, concerning the example sentences of “yang-gongju,” in dictionaries, the most frequently used entry depicted it as an “expression of other people’s perception of yang-gongju.” Except for other expressions conveying factual information, two negative expression types related to “yang-gongju” were identified. When examining the usage of these expressions in internet articles, entries related to “the government’s response” were found to be the most prevalent. For “hwanhyangnyeo,” articles most frequently focused on “the history of ‘hwanhyangnyeo’.” Regarding articles containing “wianbu,” primary topic of interest was “the expedition of the Girl Statue in German.” Finally, articles concerning “yang-gongju” commonly referred to “the poor life of ‘yang-gongju.’”

Imperial Japan’s “comfort women” system was one of the major atrocities against humanity during the Asia-Pacific war (1931-1945), yet denial of this war crime remains steadfast in Japan today. This paper introduces and discusses the personal accounts of Korean and Chinese “comfort women” which hitherto were unavailable to English readers. It demonstrates, through the testimonies of the survivors and eyewitnesses, the close correlation between the proliferation of the military comfort stations and the progression of Japan’s aggressive war. The lived experiences of the “comfort women” reveal undeniably that the “comfort women” system was created for the war and made possible by the war. The survivors’ narratives highlight that in today’s world when sexual violence continues to be used as an instrument of armed conflicts that prevents societies from achieving sustainable peace, the comfort women’s memories constitute a legacy of global significance.

Korean women’s recounts of war experience manifest realities of a war that permeated through their everyday lives. They are important materials that reveal trauma from the war. What kind of traumas can be found in those recounts of war experience and what can be done to alleviate those traumas? In order to find answers to these questions, this article discusses the case of a woman called Gim Seong-Yeon, who was forced to live in difficult conditions as a refugee during the war. In her war experience tale, there is a repetition of how she was separated from her family, how she was mistreated and how she had no one to depend on for protection. The war left Seong-Yeon with a trauma in the form of fear and distrust. But Seong-Yeon also narrated folktales aside from her recounts of her war experience. Unlike her war experience testimonies, her folktales are mainly about reassurance and trust. Therefore, this article seeks to compare Seong-Yeon’s recount of her war experience and her folktales, to reveal the fact that when a person suffers from trauma in the form of fear and distrust as an aftermath of the Korean war, as in the case of Seong-Yeon, stories about reassurance and trust, even if they are far from reality, can help in overcoming that trauma.