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The “object” of my choice is not necessarily a physical item per se, but a brilliant idea that inspired and motivated others to pursue transnationally. An idea first proposed by the Korean Council for Women drafted for Military Prostitutes by Japan, a statue was to be built in front of the Japanese embassy in downtown Seoul, South Korea, to send a sincere yet grave message regarding the oppression of former sex slaves during the Japanese occupation of Korea.

As for a brief background introduction, from 1930 to 1945, during the colonization of Korea by Japan, many young women were forced to suffer as sex slaves by the Japanese soldiers in the “comfort stations”. These women were inhumanely abused against their will to satisfy the sexual desires and to improve their morale during World War II. The living conditions in these camps were unspeakably horrible, as their sanitation and nutrition were not taken proper care for. The women did neither dare speak out against them nor escape from them, because society would most likely have viewed them as unclean and unacceptable, as were the social perspective on the comfort women. Even after time passed, the victims hid the truth, until by the 1990’s when they started to give testimonials and the issue started getting a lot more attention. This idea of building the “Statue of Peace”, or the Pyeongwha-bi, shifted from Korea to the States, and was targeted towards the Japanese government for them to admit their falsehood and formally apologize to the surviving “comfort women”. This transnational idea, in my opinion, would fit well under the category of War and the Figure of the Refugee, as it represents a girl whose youth and life was destroyed by foreigners.

This idea was put into action on the 1000th weekly rally, also called the Wednesday demonstration, by a sculptor named Kim Woon-Sung. A statue of a 13-year old girl sitting across the Japanese embassy was erected on December 14, 2011. After 20 long years of protesting, former “comfort” women and their supporters would consider the statue to have great impact and meaning. It is impossible to ignore the distinct message and meaning of the new landmark, but the Japanese government chose to ignore it. Furthermore, they requested that the statue should be removed, as it denounces their dignity and international reputation. Of course, the Korean government refused since “The statue is a free and rightful expression by the victims and their civilian supporters” (koreanjoongangdaily.joins.com). Although some time has passed since Japanese occupation, people and government alike cared and supported these women because Korea, overall, was and still is a nationalistic country. Anti-Japanese sentiment in South Korea was an elephant in the room, while animosity between the two nations was growing. Similar patterns were shown when a monumental plaque was installed in Palisades Park, Bergen County, New Jersey in 2010 for the memory of Korean women who were sexually enslaved at the average age of 13 by Japanese soldiers during World War II. Two delegations of Japanese officials came to the park lobbying to remove the monument: the first on May 1st, 2012, and the second on May 6th, 2012. These attempts at convincing the park authorities only deepened the animosity between South Korea and Japan on the issue on comfort women. In fact, their attempts to remove the monument spurred the movement to plan more such monuments around Korean-based communities across the United States. An example of this spread of idea is the unveiling of the “Statue of Peace” in Glendale, California on July 29, 2013. Another example would be Chang-Jin Lee’s work “Comfort Women Wanted” on one of the DOT Urban Art Program’s art display at 14th Street and 9th Avenue in Manhattan. As such, the movement was not only active in South Korea, but rather a transnational movement motivated by a single idea to commemorate the 20th year, or the 1000th week, of protesting for sincere admittance and apology.

As time runs out and does not wait for the comfort women forever, all they want is a sincere apology, not a financial compensation. How could they bid farewell to the world in which took their dignity and freedom from such a young age without having them restored? These monuments, based on the idea introduced before, symbolize the courage these victims of “comfort women” have shown in testifying their history to the world. This problem is not limited to Korea - other countries have experienced wars and sexual slavery – and must be addressed to stop it from happening again in the future. We live in a different world today than in the World War II era; while national security was above human rights and decency, human rights and dignity have the highest priority in the modern days. Just as Germany sincerely apologized and have focused on educating their children not to repeat the same mistakes, Japan should take a similar course of action for their soldiers’ crimes as a culturally and economically mature nation and a major Asian powerhouse.

Sources:

http://panoramapsu.com/2016/04/wounds-comfort-women-unhealed-80-years/

http://typehost.com/article/pyeonghwa-bi-peace-monument-seoul-south-korea

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/19/nyregion/monument-in-palisades-park-nj-irritates-japanese-officials.html

http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2945683

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue_of_Peace

Hallyu is a common word used to describe growth of Korean pop culture in East and Southeast Asia: Japan, China, Taiwan, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia. The term means “Korean cultural wave,” which first created by Beijing journalists in mid 1990s. Influence of Korean pop music, TV drama, and movies in China has been great since 1990s and it still continues. Korean entertainment not only attracts Asian fans but also expands popularities in western countries. For an example, “Gangnam Style” by PSY hit over 2.7 million views on Youtube, has spread worldwide gaining interest of Western populations that have not known of Korean pop culture. Thus Gangnam Style has become the symbol of Hallyu that effectively influenced in Western countries.

I believe Hallyu relates to globalization and labor circulations because global popularity of a specific culture can be found in wave of Korean pop culture and the labor circulation of entertainment system in the nations where influenced by Hallyu. For China has gained interest in Korean culture mainly through Korean drama and k-pop, the export of Korean drama are remarkably increasing. Thus Korean entertainment industry is focusing on spreading Korean culture worldwide by branching its offices abroad. Moreover, Korean celebrities tend to directly work in Chinese entertainment industries through appearing on actual Chinese shows. Globalization of Korean culture popularity shows potential growth of Korean corporations because positive impression of Korean culture increased company sales by absorbing Hallyu effect worldwide. Thus Korean market uses Hallyu as successful tool to increase sales in abroad and it actually works well. Korean electronic companies are taking advantage of Korean dramas by exposing their products in drama that are commonly exported to Southeast Asia and in K-pop artists’ concerts by providing their products as sponsorship.

           Hallyu not only encompasses Korean media products but also disseminates cultural aspects of Korea. “Chimaek” is a term combined of word chicken and Maekjoo, a Korean word for beer. Eating the combination of fried chicken and Maekjoo is a popular drinking culture that Korean adults commonly consider two menus as a single menu. Chimaek has been popularized in China by an influence of K-drama called “My Love from the Star,” because it appears as the main character’s favorite menu. Circulation of tradition of Korea to China shows the influence of Hallyu through the media. An introduction of Chimaek even increased Korean beer exports to China by 200 percent in March 2014. Through this phenomenon, the Chimaek has been grown as an essential part of Korean tourism. With increasing number of Chinese tourists in Korea, tourism companies offer travel programs that include visiting actual scene of K-drama that became popular in China. It stimulates tourism industry in Korea to target Chinese travelers using Hallyu as its one of the method of promotion.

My maternal grandmother, Margarida, immigrated to the United States when she was eighteen years old. Our family comes from a chain of Portuguese controlled islands in the Atlantic, called the Azores, specifically the island of Sao Miguel, commonly referred to by our people as A Ilha Verde, or the green island.

Grandmother was raised in a small port city on the island called Ponta Delgada. It has grown considerably since then, but when she was a child, Ponta Delgada’s tiny port was the only source of significant trade on the island. Our family was far from wealthy, but the few items of luxury Grandmother can remember having growing up, came from the port.

One such item was a beautiful, gold-plated rose necklace.

Margarida’s father, my great-grandfather, vovu, bought the necklace for my great-grandmother, vovo, when she fell pregnant for the first time. It was brought to Sao Miguel by a trader from mainland Portugal, and in that way vovu believed it represented his own origins, as they build their new life together.

When vovu passed away and Grandmother decided to leave the island and start over in America, vovo gave her the necklace to remember her family by.

She always kept vovo’s necklace with her, and when I left home, the first woman in our family to go away to college, Grandmother passed the necklace on to me.

This necklace was forged in Europe, in a small jeweler’s shop in mainland Portugal. It was brought by a Portuguese trader by ship to the Azores, a small Portuguese territory. My grandmother brought it to a Portuguese immigrant community in Fall River, Massachusetts, and later, when she learned English, married my grandfather, an American by birth, and started her own family, it came with her.

The necklace has been in my family for nearly eighty years, passed from one generation to the next, and for us, it’s a beautiful, golden reminder of where we come from and where we’re going. But it is also a tiny piece of our heritage, which has witnessed the alterations to our language and culture over time, first through colonialism, then through immigration, and finally through assimilation.