Attending the Lunar New Year Celebration with WeHope on February 12th, 2021 was quite insightful. Known in Korean culture as Seollal, the Lunar New marks the first full moon of the lunisolar calendar. This calendar is used throughout East Asia, including China, Vietnam, and Singapore. In this day families gather at the house of their eldest male relative, to pay respects to their ancestors. There is a very high influx of travel around this time for this exact reason. In Korean culture, respecting one’s elders and ancestors is one of the main pillars in their tradition and lifestyle.

Historically, some Korean ancestors had to endure the tragedy of being “comfort women.” During World War II, imperial Japanese Armies would abduct Korean women from their homes, and take them in as sex slaves. The name “comfort women” comes from the Japanese word fro prostitutes. Women from China, Taiwan, and other Asian countries also fell victims to these terrible practice. Once sex selves, the job placed on these women was to comfort and enhance the morale of Japanese soldiers away from home. They were subject to continuous rapes, and would suffer beatings when they did not provide the services that the soldiers required from them. At the end of the war, many comfort women were tragically executed, and the ones who survived suffered lifelong physical and mental trauma.