A special photo exhibition about Japan's wartime sex slavery was held in Seoul.<br />It features photos and testimonies of victims from both South and North Korea. <br />Lee Min-sun takes su there. <br />In 1992, two women from South and North Korea embraced one another at a hearing held in Tokyo. <br />They were victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery,... and the moment symbolized unity between two Koreas in seeking redress... from the injustices they suffered during the colonial era.<br /><br />"The photo is now on display in central Seoul, as part of a special exhibition of comfort women from both South and North Korea. It is the first time that photos of North Korean victims were on public display."<br /><br />Japanese photojournalist Takashi Itoh visited North Korea over 10 times since his first visit to Pyongyang 17 years ago... and met with victims of Japan's wartime sex slavery. <br />He is the only person who has met face-to-face with 14 North Korean comfort women to hear their testimonies.<br /><br />"Because I'm a Japanese man, some victims were hard on me. A woman with a scarf on her head came straight to me and told me her experience."<br /><br />One of the victims that he vividly remembers... was Jeong Ok-soon, who was still carrying physical scars and tattoos forcibly branded on her by the Japanese. <br /><br />"I thought she was being fashionable with her scarf, but later I learned that she was hiding scars left behind by a Japanese solider. Her bodies and even the inside of her mouth was covered in tattoos." <br /><br />He hopes the exhibition can raise awareness... on the unheard voices of North Korean victims across the world. <br />The exhibition also features photos and stories told by 10 comfort women from South Korea,... compiled by documentary filmmaker Ahn Hae-ryoung.<br />Ahn presented them next to each other in careful sequence,... that focused on the emotional dimensions of the surviving victims.<br />The exhibition, with about 40 photographs on display,... will run until March 11 and is open to the public for free.<br />Lee Min-sun, Arirang News. <br />
