2006〜2016년간 일본군‘위안부’ 연구의 성과와 전망 –한국의 역사분야 연구성과를 중심으로

Abstract

This paper primarily reviews the progress made in research on the Japanese military “comfort women” issue from September 2006, when the Northeast Asian History Foundation was established, up until June 2016. The issue regarding former comfort women of the Japanese military used to be covered through social movements since the 1990s. Then around 2007, the issue started to emerge as an actual subject for research and from 2013, academic disputes surrounding the historical facts involved with the comfort women issue began to materialize. Based on the above understanding of developments concerning the comfort women issue, this paper first summarizes research done on the issue in South Korea over the past decade, examines major progress made in the realm of historical research on the issue, and reviews activities related to the issue carried out by the Northeast Asian History Foundation. The paper then covers discussions that have taken place so far on the issue’s main points of controversy, which are whether coercion was used to operate the Japanese military comfort women system and to what extent the Japanese military and government were responsible for the system. The paper finishes by suggesting the direction research in South Korea should be heading toward on the Japanese military comfort women and noting the challenges regarding the issue that lie ahead for the Northeast Asian History Foundation.