Lee Yong-soo, a 97-year-old survivor of Japan’s wartime system of forced sexual slavery in South Korea, has never stopped demanding a long-overdue official apology from the Japanese government.
Now residing in Daegu, Lee shares her experiences in the documentary “Five,” a joint production between China and South Korea.
The film centers on the stories of five remaining survivors of Japan’s wartime "comfort women" atrocities committed in South Korea.
"One night, a woman and a Japanese soldier dragged me away by force. I was only 12 then. Why? What crime did I commit? I had done nothing wrong, yet I was taken away against my will. That has haunted me my entire life. My lifelong wish is to see the day when Japan fully admits its crimes and offers a sincere apology. On that day, I will shout 'Hooray' three times," Lee says in the documentary.
She calls for efforts to ensure that future generations would remember Japan's wartime history.
"I am nearing the end of my life. I've been thinking, who should I tell all this to? Shouldn't we build a school, a joint ROK-Japan history school, so everyone can learn more deeply? I just hope they can face past wrongs honestly, study that history thoroughly, and let the whole world know. Let the history of the 'comfort women' become a profound history lesson," she says.
Lee first testified as a victim in 1992. For the past three decades, local media say she has worked as a human rights activist.
97-year-old ‘comfort women’ survivor demands Japanese apology, hopes past wrongs can serve as history lesson
Democrats are projected to flip control of the U.S. Senate after winning several key races in battleground states, securing control of both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections, election forecasting agency Decision Desk HQ reported late Tuesday.
Before the midterms, Republicans held 218 seats in the House of Representatives, compared with 214 for Democrats. The chamber also had one independent member and two vacancies, one in a Republican-held district and the other in a Democratic-held district, following the resignations of their respective representatives in 2026.
With 218 seats required for a majority, Democrats needed a net gain of just three seats to regain control of the House.
The latest projections from NBC indicated that Democrats could win more than 250 seats, marking a major political turnaround in the House. Several media outlets described the outcome as a "blue wave" or even a "blue tsunami."
Before the Senate elections, Republicans held a 53-47 majority over Democrats. Democrats needed a net gain of four seats to reach the 51-seat threshold for a majority.
As votes were counted throughout election night, U.S. media outlets projected Democratic victories in several states, including North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Kansas, Ohio and Maine.
Notably, South Carolina, Texas and Kansas are all traditionally Republican strongholds, having voted for Donald Trump in each of the past three presidential elections.
Texas Democratic Senate candidate and state Representative James Talarico is projected to defeat Republican candidate and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, becoming the first Democrat since 1988 to win a U.S. Senate seat in the state. Democrat Gina Hinojosa is also projected to win the Texas governor's race and become the state's first Democratic governor in more than 30 years.
In Kansas, Democratic Senate candidate Adam Hamilton is projected to defeat Republican incumbent Senator Roger Marshall, becoming the first Democrat since 1932 to win a Senate election in the midwestern state.
The emergence of these "blue sprouts" in traditionally Republican strongholds has attracted widespread attention.
Democrats projected to win U.S. Congress in midterm elections
