K-pop band BTS’ international ARMY show support for wartime sex slaves
Fans of the supergroup make generous donations to help elderly Koreans forced to be ‘comfort women’ to Japanese soldiers in the second world war
The House of Sharing, a shelter based in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, for wartime sexual slavery victims – better known as “comfort women” – experienced a rare flurry of overseas donations over the weekend.
The donations were small, with each donor sending between US$5 and US$10.
Since the first donation arrived through its PayPal account last week, 161 donors from all across the world contributed about US$3,300 in total over the weekend. The overseas donations have been continuing.
Nationalities of donors vary. Americans, Europeans, Asians and even Latin Americans joined the worldwide online campaign to help the Korean survivors of Japan’s wartime crime.
Christina Duran, a BTS fan based in Arizona, said she made the donation on behalf of the group.
“We believe that history should be remembered, even the darkest periods of times, so we can learn and grow together as people and in the future avoid such atrocities,” she said.
Some fans posted social media messages after the donation.
“I just donated! I hope all these women are now able to find peace in their lives and live with the dignity they deserve,” another fan, Trish, wrote on Twitter.