The document discusses shifts in political dynamics and narratives regarding comfort women between Japan, South Korea, and China in recent decades. It provides examples of students' research on the topic, including analysis of shifts in Japanese government rhetoric over time, recurrent language in South Korean media coverage of the 2015 agreement with Japan, and China's nuanced response reflecting political considerations. The research examined hundreds of primary source documents from each country coded using ATLAS.ti software to identify patterns in discourse and narratives between the countries.

1. JAPAN:
The political power dynamics between Japan, South Korea, and China have shifted in recent
decades as the cold-war structure subsided in East Asia and the U.S. foreign policy changed.
Economic stagnation in Japan and rapid economic growth in Korea and China greatly disrupted
historical power balances. Such international trends, as well as the recent domestic revisionist
signals of Prime Minister Abe, have led to shifts in the Japanese government‘s official narrative
regarding its responsibilities in WWII, including rhetorics surrounding the comfort women issues.
Haruka Sano (’18) investigated this shift, particularly in the narratives of the Japanese Prime
Ministers and Foreign Ministers in recent few decades. She noted the changes in the frequency of
the use of certain phrases, the targeted audience, and the strategic purposes behind those
narratives.
KOREA:
Recent South Korean media coverage of comfort women revolves around the agreement between
the Japanese and Korean governments announced on December 28, 2015. The deal has largely
been condemned as a hasty and incompetent attempt by the Korean government to close an
unresolved issue for the sake of appearances. Many of the opinions circulated express distrust and
anger that stems from the perception that the Japanese government lacks sincere regret in its
public statements, and that the current Korean administration is sympathetic to Japanese interests.
Certain adjectives and phrases describing the contents and actors of the agreement recur across
the discourse; Audrey Jang (’19) examined this recurrent language as a manifestation of post-
colonial trauma in Korea‘s collective psyche.
CHINA:
Chinese responses to Japanese pologies reflect the nuanced complexities of Sino-Japanese
relations. April Xu (‘18) and Don Chen (’18) explored this topic both in terms of the macro picture of
East Asian dynamics over time and through micro case studies of the comfort women issue,
especially focusing on the judicial approach that victims and activists have pursued to achieve their
goals (Chen) and the Chinese government‘s approach to these issues. Xu and Chen observed a
cautious response in China to the December 2015 omfort women deal between Japan and South
Korea, in which Chinese officials expressed skepticism of Japan‘s ability to carry out the terms of
the deal. Whereas Chinese civil society is anxious for a satisfactory resolution of the historical
grievance, individual opinions are greatly shaped by media and government platforms that portray
Japan as calculating and strategic with its 2015 agreement. One can argue that the Chinese
government‘s interest lies in keeping Japan-Korea ties strained, continuing to fault Japan with
unresolved disputes rather than seeking restitution. China has consistently and strategically
manipulated the historical issues from WWII as geopolitical assets to gain leverage abroad and
domestic political tools to gain credibility at home.
Abstract
ATLAS.ti
The term “comfort women” describes the tens of
thousands of women from Korea, China, and other
Asian countries who were forced into sexual servitude
for the Japanese army during WWII. Since the 1990s,
survivors and advocates have been pressuring the
state of Japan to take responsibility, apologize and
compensate the survivors.
We examined shifts in the government and public
rhetoric on this issue, translating hundreds of
Japanese, Korean, and Chinese primary sources
including government speeches, press conferences,
media reports,
“The government’s recognition of history” (52
times)
This code often appears in documents as “The Abe Cabinet
upholds the position on the recognition outlined by the
previous administrations in its entirety” and “Such position
articulated by the previous cabinets will remain unshakable.”
It is often accompanied with references to the former Prime
Minister Murayama’s Statement in 1995 marking the fiftieth
year since the war, and to the former Chief Cabinet
Secretary Kawano’s Statement in 1993 regarding comfort
women issues. The Japanese government repeatedly aims
to emphasize the consistency in its recognition of Japan’s
involvement in the war, as it receives increasing criticism of
its history revisionism.
“Confront history humbly/squarely” (46 times)
This phrase has been repeated more frequently in recent
years, always appearing in the Prime Minister’s speeches at
the annual National Memorial Ceremony for the War Dead.
It is an official rhetoric in response to criticism that the
Japanese government is avoiding its responsibilities for its
actions during the war. The government claims that the
Japanese are obligated to reflect on the history with humility
and willingness to learn from the past.
ATLAS.ti is a qualitative research and data analysis software. It allows the team to compile relevant sources, create codes to mark patterns, annotate the documents, and organize the codes for further
analysis.
Of 2713 Japanese documents that were investigated, 160 documents (excluding translated
versions of the documents) were coded using 36 codes. 612 quotations were identified (excluding
those in translated documents). Documents are primary sources including speeches, press
conferences, press releases, statements, which were made by Prime Ministers and Foreign
Ministers, in addition to ODA White Papers.
449 quotations were translated from 34 primary sources of the South Korean response to the 2015
ROK-Japan agreement on comfort women. The documents were categorized into 6 position
statements, 11 articles, 9 op-eds, and 11 survey polls. 72 codes were created and then grouped
together to seven categories: anti-Japan, anti-Korean government, criticism of 2015 agreement.
1385 quotations, including translations of key quotes, were identified in 129 documents concerning
China. 35 codes were created. Documents included scholarly journal articles, government
speeches, polls, editorials, media reports, and public forums.
Codes
JAPAN
Each country’s discourse on comfort women featured certain popular phrases. The following are some examples of codes we created to note such
recurrent language.
Descriptive Hypothesis
Methodology
Results / Conclusion
scholarly articles, op-eds, and survey polls. Using ATLAS.ti, a qualitative data analysis software, we
coded recurring phrases to identify patterns in the discourse.
The Korean dialogue surrounding the country’s 2015 comfort women agreement with Japan
reflected disagreement and disconnect between the government and the public. In China, placing
the government’s actions and responses in historical and political context suggested that apologies
are a battle between history and memory. In Japan, domestic and international politics influenced
prime ministers and foreign ministers’ narratives of WWII and comfort women.
The rise of attention on this issue reflects the changes in power dynamics and strategic goals in
East Asia. Through our research, we seek to contribute to the academic discussion of memory and
policy regarding post-WWII reconciliation.
KOREA CHINA
“Japan calculating” (80 times)
“Japan has been calculating in using its domestic judicial
system, international laws, legislature, media, and education
system alike in strategic ways to serve its self-interest.” The
Chinese government and media use this phrase to cast doubt
on Japanese actions or words that are ostensibly reconciliatory
and therefore negate any possible credibility or leverage that the
Japanese government might gain. Simultaneously, however,
China and South Korea, among other victim countries, have
also been using historical issues strategically, often out of
motives other than purely wanting to apologize to individuals
who directly suffered from Japan’s past deeds during the WWII.
“Japan unrepentant” (100 times)
The Japanese government is constantly portrayed and criticized
as unwilling to accept its moral and legal responsibilities alike in
terms of its WWII comfort women atrocities in China and other
countries. Yet, one should note that China’s criticism of
Japanese evasion of wartime responsibilities was absent from
the 1950s to 1970s, when the Chinese government used to
avoid and actively suppress academic and public discourse on
Japanese aggressions as an effort to improve relations with
Japan.
“Emotion” (79 times)
Much of the rhetoric describing the 2015 deal was emotionally charged
rhetoric, using inflammatory adjectives such as “humiliating” (13) and
“painful” (17) that appealed to emotions of anger and sadness. Researchers
of Korea have long recognized the han complex of “unrequited resentment,
bitterness” as a core characteristic of the Korean collective psyche resulting
from a history of victimization. This type of language emphasized the
suffering of the survivors as well as damage to national pride caused by the
agreement.
“Anti-government” (146 times)
Much of the aforementioned anger was targeted at the Korean government.
18 quotations were coded as expressing “distrust of Korean gov” (18) and
called the deal a “diplomatic failure.” General sentiments included the idea
that the government “sold the country off” for a pittance (17),
compromising the people’s pride.
“Anti-Japan” (162 times)
In Korea media, Japan is consistently portrayed as a wrongdoing
“perpetuator” (23) that is avoiding the “responsibility” (32) of its past
actions with an unapologetic and infuriating “attitude” (27). Such quotes
cast doubt on the sincerity and moral uprightedness of the Japanese
government.
• While the Japanese government emphasizes the consistency ofits war narrative, the shift in the frequency of the use of certain set phrases show that the
government has been modifying the narrative as a result of international pressures and the domestic revisionist tendency of Prime Minister Abe.
• Generally, these apologies are rejected by the survivors and their respective countries, due to skepticism of the true sincerity of the Japanese
government.
o The Korean discourse is informed by the people’s distrust of the government, and the consequent de-legitimization of any actions taken by the Korean government
on the issue.
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