Eyes of Dawn
- Episode 2 - Aired on October 8, 1991
Aww... Really.
How far will they take us?!
Wherever it might be, it better be filled with handsome fellas.
Aigoo... You fool.
We're going there to make money, so numbers are all that matters.
Hey, Chosen bitches.
I suggest you listen well.
We might be dealing with high-ranked officers, but you get all the minions instead.
Please them all the way,
and all you'll get will be scars and little money to justify them.
So how about it? Want to learn how to keep it short and sweet?
Weren't they taking us to a supply base?
Aigoo... You dirty Chosen whores...
The war was raging on with no end in sight.
With bleak prospects of survival on the frontline, soldiers increasingly turned to sex.
- Imperial Japanese Army 15th Div. - Nanjing, China
It was then that Japan established a regulated prostitution system...
under the direct supervision of the Imperial Army.
Hoping that such move would help stir up morale amongst the soldiers,
they began forcibly mobilizing Joseon women from the early 1940s onwards.
- Imperial Army Recreational Dept. - The so-called "comfort women."
In order to prevent sexually transmitted diseases,
all women sent to these comfort stations had to be virgins.
According to Japanese stats, the number of unmarried Joseon women aged between
twelve and forty who were forcibly mobilized was 100,000, half of what Korean sources claim.
Keep the line! I said in line!
Stop!
Shut those traps!
This way. You, this way.
Bongsun!
Here, this way.
Come here.
Get in.
You go there.
Mom!
Mom!!
"Comfort Station Regulation."
"Access to these facilities is prohibited with the exception of army personnel."
"Furthermore, all fees must be settled upon entrance,"
"after which a condom and ticket will be issued."
"It is forbidden to throw away used condoms, which must be conserved."
Mom!
Don't! No... No!!
Room No. 8. Let's keep it short.
Let's get moving, dammit. I've had it with waiting!
Officer... Officer!
Officer!
Where are you going?
How are you feeling?
Can you see me?
Yeook.
What were you trying to accomplish?
They said that they only spared you because they don't have enough of us.
Or else they would have killed you by now.
Mom...
- Kwantung Army 29th Div. Field Hospital - Shangzhou (South of Harbin, Manchuria)
Help!
Help me...
Men who have lost their eyes, their arms, some even both their legs.
It is among these people that my war has begun.
I can console myself knowing that I'm not being forced to kill anyone yet,
but that privilege will not last long, as the day will come for me as well.
And then I won't be killing other men fueled by hatred,
but I will just pull the trigger. So that I can survive one more day.
Remember the words of Dostoevsky I often read to you?
- From "House of the Dead (1861)" - "Outside and inside, man is a creature who can adapt to anything,"
"and that quality is what I think best defines him."
Will I be able to accept the realities of war as well, then?
Katsuko. This war is Japan's to wage.
All I want now is to run away from this atrocity.
Can you understand me, Katsuko?
Stay down!
On my back!
Hurry, get up!
Over there!
What's your affiliation?
Get up. Up!
Special zone medic, Sir.
What? Special zone?!
How is the situation there?
They annihilated us, Sir.
You son of a... We have a deserter here.
The Imperial Army knows no deserters.
- Finish him. - I'm not a deserter!
- Die like an imperial soldier. - I... I only ran away to fight.
I'm not a deserter.
I was studying medicine at the Tokyo Imperial University.
I'd never volunteer to end up dying in this manner!
It's not fair... How can you do this?!
- Tamai! - Sir!
Wait!
- What would be "not fair"? - You can't do this.
If I have to die here, I'll do it while fighting the enemy.
Killing me this way would only be a loss to the empire.
Medicine at the Tokyo Imperial University, you said?
Yes, Sir.
Know a certain Professor Kawajima?
Yes... I was in his bacteriology class.
- Corporal. - Sir!
He's coming with us.
Clever, I'll give you that.
- Winter 1944, Tokyo -
Leave.
I said leave!
You realize that acting like this will only end up provoking me, don't you?
Harimoto-san got me pregnant.
Abortion might be against the law, but I can always lend a helping hand!
What's wrong with you? You're a detective, this is unacceptable.
It's wartime. Everything is perfectly acceptable.
You really think you can gain my heart?
I have very little use for a woman's feelings.
And those infatuated with other men turn me on even more.
Because it adds to the thrill of the conquest!
So will you continue playing hard-to-get?
Finding new ways to fight me off.
- Japanese Imperial Army 15th Div. - Nanjing, China
The comfort station is closed for the night.
We're done for today, so get out of here!
I said go!
Go, it's over!
Looks like she hanged herself.
Fifty men had her yesterday, so I guess that's the limit for them?!
Owaku, you ass... I hear you worked at an inn, already counting chickens?
Corporal, are you done already? Another three minute quickie?
Chosen whores... Three minutes? They don't call this a "comfort" station for nothing.
Three or five minutes, better have your fun while women are still around.
Heard that, Sakai? He's speaking to you.
What, Sakai? You still haven't been to the comfort station?
Is that...
how you repay His Majesty the Emperor's benevolence?!
I guess it's because they're fellow Chosen people.
Does that make any sense? He's a man like everyone else here.
He's just a colonial waiting his turn while his keepers have their fun, right?
Yes, Sir.
"To my dear Junko."
"To my dear Junko..."
"How... how have you been?"
"I'm doing fine, too."
"I'm advancing through the freezing blizzards of the Chinese..."
Where are we, again?
- Nanjing. - Nanjing?
"Of Nanjing... in China."
Chosen scum!
Let's not make a tragedy just because they're Chosen whores like you!
Keep it short and sweet!
Even you Chosen people come here? Don't you feel ashamed?
Ehh...
Next.
I...
I'm from Joseon, too.
We're compatriots, aren't we?
I was forced to come here.
You understand, I hope?
I'll just sit here, so you can rest.
Just...
Hey... Are you listening?
Hey.
Are you all right?
Hey...
Hey!
Are you still alive? Uh? Look at me.
You're okay, right?
Are you from Joseon?
Yeah.
Help me out.
You have a knife, right?
A what?
Bring me a knife. Even a small one will do, please...
- You've gone insane. - Bring me a knife...
Are you out of your mind? What the hell are you trying to accomplish?
Let's hear it... Will you stab a Jap and get yourself killed as well?
As for men, you start in this position, and...
Kaneyama.
Kaneyama!
Get up...
Know why you're getting hit?
- I apologize. - For what?
Can you drop butts around as if everything was your damned ashtray?
Is that what they taught you?
But today I wasn't assigned to barrack duty...
You talk back?!
Kaneyama. Get your ass up.
Up!
Kaneyama, get the hell up!
Goddamned college kids, not to mention Chosen scum.
Endless complaints and utter lack of discipline.
And I have to witness grown-ass men wail on the battlefront like a princess?
What's wrong, Kubota?
The Tamura unit is deploying. That means we're next.
- Watch what you say. - I knew it...
We're going there to die. That explains bringing us those women.
All this smelled from the beginning...
It's better to fight, in these cases. They're just as scared on the other side.
Stay there.
Have some rest.
You can rest for half an hour.
I'm going to take a nap, so just take it easy.
Are you from Joseon?
Don't you remember?
You asked for a knife, the other day.
Why did you?
Were you going to kill yourself?
I can imagine how hard this can be.
But there is nothing people can't overcome, no matter how hard.
Or at least that's what I think.
So what I'm saying is...
There was something I wanted to tell you.
Meaning you'll have to survive if you wanna hear it.
Dying like this is just...
It's just stupid, that's what it is.
- So you just hang in there, and then... - Mother...
Mother...
Sir!
Private Second Class, Kaneyama!
Are you from Joseon?
Me, too.
I'm a student soldier from Joseon.
Want this comb?
That'll be thirty tickets.
Aigoo... Aigoo... Dirty Chosen whores.
I shouldn't expect you to understand what a good deal is.
That'll cost you a hundred tickets. I barely touched it.
- You little wench... - Calm down.
Calm down!
- She's insane, don't mess with her. - Let me go!
I said stop!
She's gone batty. Just relax.
It's the officer, Ajeosshi. Hurry up.
- Take it. - Thank you.
Bongsun, you found yourself a boyfriend...
I'll go ahead first.
Let's jump over.
What are you doing?!
- Go first. - No way.
Yeook.
Dongjin took the board and tied some rope around it.
It won't be slippery anymore.
Come out and try it, too.
Looks like they'll be on emergency duty again.
So no soldiers coming tomorrow.
Happy?
That Jap Hanako was so disappointed.
All she cares about is money.
Guess she believes those tickets will make her rich.
Yeook... Let's go out, uh?
Yeook...
Dongjin's friend must have brought you another one?!
Can I have it?
He told me he was studying at Beijing University.
Why did students become privates?
Then again, he's from Joseon...
Dongjin was a college student, too.
Surprised?
Like...
Would college students even talk to me back at home?
Yeah, right...
My mother must be dead by now.
All the better.
If she knew I ended up in this state...
- Starring - PARK Sangwon (Jang Harim) CHAE Sira (Yoon Yeook)
CHOI Jaesung (Choi Daechi) JANG Hangseon (Oe)
PARK Inhwan (Kubota) KIM Heunggi (Mita)
KIM Hyeonju (Katsuko) LEE Seongwoong (Yamada)
JEONG Hogeun (Kwon Dongjin) OH Yeonsu (Bongsun)
LEE Migyeong (Hanako) JEONG Hanheon (Nishihara)
KIM Heungseok (Owaku) IM Daeho (Kenji) JO Seongsuk (Japanese Woman)
- Written By - SONG Jina
- Based Upon the Novel By - KIM Seongjong
- Produced By - KIM Jonghak