Lee Ok-sun in her bedroom at the Sharing House, a nursing home east of Seoul for South Korean former sex slaves of the Japanese army in World War II. Her life story is told in Grass, a graphic novel by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim. Photo: AFP
Lee Ok-sun in her bedroom at the Sharing House, a nursing home east of Seoul for South Korean former sex slaves of the Japanese army in World War II. Her life story is told in Grass, a graphic novel by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim. Photo: AFP

Review |
Graphic novel biography of Korean wartime sex slave of Japanese army, Grass, doesn’t pull its punches

  • Sent to work at 15, abducted to a mud hut in China to serve as a sex slave, abandoned by her first husband, unloved by her second, life was harsh for Lee Ok-sun
  • Keum Suk Gendry-Kim’s book, based on interviews with Lee at a nursing home, is not an easy read but depicts with sensitivity the twists and turns of her journey

Lee Ok-sun in her bedroom at the Sharing House, a nursing home east of Seoul for South Korean former sex slaves of the Japanese army in World War II. Her life story is told in Grass, a graphic novel by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim. Photo: AFP
Lee Ok-sun in her bedroom at the Sharing House, a nursing home east of Seoul for South Korean former sex slaves of the Japanese army in World War II. Her life story is told in Grass, a graphic novel by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim. Photo: AFP
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