The Busan National University Museum (President Choi Jaewon) will hold two special exhibitions addressing the issue of Japanese military 'comfort women' to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Liberation. The exhibitions, titled "From Darkness to Light" and "Bloom Again," will run simultaneously from August 13 to November 29.
"From Darkness to Light" focuses on the life and activism of the late Kim Moonsook, who was the chairperson of the Busan Council for Countermeasures against the Comfort Women Issue. She was a companion to the victims and a starting point for the women's human rights movement in Busan.
In particular, the exhibition revisits the historical significance and journey of the "Kanpu Trial" (關釜裁判), which is recognized as the first ruling by a Japanese court to acknowledge the responsibility of the Japanese government. It also introduces materials related to Kim Moonsook's activities, which served as the real-life inspiration for the film "Herstory" (2018).
This exhibition is part of the "2025 University Museum Promotion Support Project," a joint exhibition hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and organized by the Korean University Museum Association.
The other special exhibition, "Bloom Again," features pressed flower artworks by the late Kim Sunaak and Shim Dalyeon, both survivors of the Japanese military comfort women system. Each petal in their work contains memories of pain and the restoration of dignity, delivering a message of healing and testimony. This exhibition was planned as part of the 2025 National University Promotion Project.
Both exhibitions were jointly organized and planned by the Busan National University Museum and the National Changwon University Museum. Several related institutions provided materials, including the Busan Museum of National and Women's History, Korea Women's Human Rights Institute, Japanese Military 'Comfort Women' Issue Research Institute, the Citizen Group with the Grandmothers of the Comfort Women, Heeum Japanese Military Comfort Women History Museum, National Memorial Museum of Forced Mobilization under Japanese Occupation, and Seoul Archives.
During the exhibition period, an international workshop on "The Japanese Military Comfort Women Issue and Regionality" and public lectures will be held to facilitate in-depth discussions on the historical and regional aspects of the comfort women issue.
Lim Sangtaek, Director of the Busan National University Museum (Professor of Archaeology), stated, "The life and actions of the late Kim Moonsook are an important asset to the women's human rights movement in Busan," and added, "I hope this exhibition serves as an opportunity to remember and empathize with the painful history of the comfort women issue and to connect it to the present."
Busan National University Museum, Special Exhibition Poster Commemorating the 80th Anniversary of Liberation.
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