The International Research Center for the History of the Comfort Women Issue is a non-profit, public-interest international network that works on the history of the comfort women, the preservation of historical materials, public education and international exchange. The Center does not maintain fixed physical offices and has no regional branches. Its main working platform is this official website, through which it connects researchers, scholars and specialists, editors, translators, legal professionals and volunteers in different countries and regions to carry out the collection of historical materials, research and collation, digital preservation, public communication and international cooperation.
1. Nature of the Organisation
The Center is an open network for public history, academic research and international collaboration. It is not a commercial, governmental or political-party organisation, and it does not pursue profit or distribute benefits to its participants.
The Center operates through cross-regional network collaboration. When carrying out conferences, research, publication, data processing, the receipt of funding and other activities in different countries and regions, it complies with the laws and regulations applicable in the places where those activities take place. Where registration, filing, licensing or assumption by a legally qualified entity is required, such matters are handled in accordance with local law.
2. How We Work
The Center uses its official website as the principal vehicle for its day-to-day work, the publication of results and public communication. The website maintains an editorial office responsible for column planning, the editing and review of manuscripts, the collation of historical materials, translation and proofreading, fact-checking, digital publishing, thematic planning, website content maintenance, and liaison with external contributors.
The Center operates on a light-weight network model. According to the needs of its work, it appoints a Director, an Executive Coordinator, an Editor-in-Chief, editors and project leaders, and invites specialists in relevant fields to serve as academic advisers and legal advisers. For specific research and public projects, task groups may be formed in such areas as historical materials, research, translation, legal affairs, international liaison and technology; once a project is completed, the corresponding task group is dissolved.
3. Participants
The Center relies principally on the joint participation of volunteers and professionals. Participants include historians, university teachers, researchers, archivists, legal professionals, journalists and editors, translators, technical staff, students, and members of the public concerned with the history of the comfort women, the rights of victims of war, and peace education.
Participants may take part by providing historical materials, conducting research, translating documents, assisting with editing, maintaining the website, carrying out oral history work, organising academic activities, assisting with international liaison, or offering professional advice. As a matter of principle, the Center does not charge compulsory membership fees.
4. Funding & Operating Costs
The Center’s day-to-day operating costs are borne mainly by its founders, partner organisations and volunteers, and it may also accept sponsorship and project support voluntarily provided by members of the public, public-interest organisations and cooperating institutions.
Expenses such as website servers, domain names, technical maintenance, the digitisation of historical materials, translation, publication, conferences and international exchange may be borne by the founders, partners or specific projects. Projects involving public fundraising, public donation, large sums of money, or requiring formal financial handling are undertaken and managed by cooperating entities that are legally established or hold the appropriate qualifications.
No sponsorship may be subject to conditions that interfere with historical facts, alter research conclusions, restrict the disclosure of materials, or affect academic independence.
5. Asset Management
At the present stage, the Center does not hold assets centrally as an independent legal entity. Title to website servers, computers and equipment, archival carriers and other tangible assets is determined in accordance with actual contributions, purchase records, agreements and applicable law.
Assets purchased by founders, partners or individuals and made available for the Center’s use shall be recorded in a register specifying the owner, the custodian and the scope of use. Assets expressly donated for the Center’s public-interest work may not be transferred, disposed of or used for purposes unrelated to the Center’s mission by any individual without authorisation.
Website domain names, website accounts, server back-ends, databases and important digital materials are subject to registration, authorisation and handover management, and are managed by authorised persons in charge or by legally qualified carrying entities.
6. Intellectual Property
The Center applies the principle that original rights remain with the original rights holders and that the right of use is determined in accordance with authorisation.
Copyright and related rights in articles written by researchers, photographs taken by photographers, historical materials provided by holders of archives, and oral records created with interviewees are determined in accordance with applicable law and the terms of authorisation, and are not automatically transferred by reason of submitting to the Center, providing materials or participating in a project.
Within the scope of authorisation, the Center digitally preserves, edits, translates, publishes on the website and publicly communicates the relevant materials. Matters involving the assignment of copyright, long-term use, exclusive use or commercial publication are separately specified in written agreements.
Intellectual property rights and permissions in website features, databases, visual designs, digital publications and other outputs produced under the editorial office’s organisation are determined according to the actual participants, the commissioning relationship and the project agreement.
7. Materials & Privacy Protection
The Center protects the personal information and sensitive historical materials of comfort women survivors, the families of victims and other historical witnesses. Without the authorisation of the individuals concerned or of the lawful rights holders, it does not disclose sensitive identifying information, family privacy, contact details, unpublished testimony or other information that may cause secondary harm.
The collection, preservation, use and communication of oral histories, photographs, audio and video recordings, testimony and personal data are carried out within the scope of authorisation and in accordance with relevant legal provisions. Important historical facts, contested historical materials and content involving legal issues are published after the necessary fact-checking and professional review.
Through long-term, open and professional international network collaboration, the International Research Center for the History of the Comfort Women Issue continues to carry out the preservation of historical materials, historical research, digital publishing, public education and international exchange, so that the history of the comfort women and related historical materials on war victims may be systematically preserved, studied and communicated.