​On Sept. 30, ESJF participated in the 5th annual Chuseok Festival hosted by the Korean Center, Inc. in San Francisco. Many visitors to our booth showed support and expressed interest in our work. It was so special to see two USF graduate students from the seminar Sung taught a few days prior come to show their support and continue the discussion. Big appreciation goes to several ESJF volunteers who made the great turnout possible!
 
Click here to see a short clip of the fun day. Thank you to Sumi Lee from the ESJF Parent Committee for creating this clip!

​On Sept. 26, at the University of San Francisco graduate seminar, Culture in the Contemporary Asia Pacific, Sung gave a lecture on historical denialism and the power of civic engagement. One of the questions during the lecture was the significance of having “comfort women” memorials in the U.S. and beyond. Referring to ESJF’s 2023 decolonization study tour in Germany, Sung talked about how activists and educators in the decolonization movement saw the deep connection between sexual violence their ancestors were forced to endure under colonization and “comfort women” history in Asia. In Berlin, many activists and educators Sung met considered the Peace Girl statue a unifying symbol of all women and girls impacted by colonialism and a source of strength for activism for decolonization.

On Sept. 20 (KST), the Masan, Changwon, and Jinhae Civil Assembly for Japanese Military Sexual Slaves (Machangjin) hosted, and the South Gyeongsang Province Office of Education sponsored, an international conference Looking for Countermeasures Against the Denial of the Japanese Military Sexual Slavery History. The conference examined recent attempts to deny and distort the history of Japanese military sexual slavery before and during WWII. Speakers from the U.S., ROK, Japan, Philippines, Germany, and Australia presented their current situation analyses and recommendations. Sung spoke on the collective efforts made to preserve “comfort women” history in the U.S., including the SF “comfort women” memorial installation process and educational initiatives in California.