Persephone
Impressions of Kim Bok-Dong
About Persephone
In Greek mythology, Persephone was a young maiden who was abducted by Hades and forced to become his wife in the Underworld. Also known as Kore, or Proserpina— Persephone was the daughter of Demeter, one of the oldest Goddesses in the Ancient Greek pantheon, likely originally a mother Earth goddess.
Persephone was eventually able to leave the Underworld for six months of the year but obliged to return for the remaining six months of the year. In time she became the wise Queen of the Underworld, guide to the souls of the dead.
about Kim Bok-dong (19 April 1926 – 28 January 2019)
Kim Bok-dong was a young Korean girl taken to work as a sex slave, commonly known as a “comfort woman”, by the Japanese Military and held for eight years before, during and after WWII.
Kim Bok-dong was one of approximately 200,000 women and girls forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese.
Kim Bok-dong fought until her dying day for a formal apology from the Japanese, an apology she never received.
In 2014, she set up The Butterfly Fund to support fellow victims of sexual slavery, bringing together survivors from around the world - including women in Vietnam who had been attacked by South Korean soldiers during the US war.