Sex slavery survivor wants Yoon judged by law
Lee Yong-soo, one of the surviving victims of Japan’s wartime sex slavery, is refusing to accept the apology of activist-turned-lawmaker elect Yoon Mee-hyang who is facing growing suspicions that a civic group she led misappropriated funds donated to help victims such as Lee, according to sources and media reports, Thursday.
Lee, 92, stated that all suspicions facing the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan should be judged by the law.
The comments came after some news outlets reported that Lee forgave Yoon after Yoon kneeled down to apologize during their meeting in Daegu, Tuesday, which lasted for about 10 minutes.
Following those reports, the Hankyoreh newspaper quoted Lee saying, “I haven’t forgiven Yoon because I do not know what she was apologizing for. I just talked about my plan to hold a news conference and told Yoon to come.”
Lee added, “Things will be judged by the law.”
The Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan has been advocating for Korean victims who were forced to serve soldiers in brothels during World War II, and has organized weekly Wednesday rallies in Seoul for the past 28 years.
Yoon, who was a leader of the group, won a proportional representation National Assembly seat in April for the ruling Democratic Party of Korea.
Controversy surrounding the group began after Lee claimed on May 7 that the group has never used public donations for the benefit of the victims.
A series of other accusations followed, including one that the group poorly managed a country house it had bought to offer housing for the women.
The group spent about 750 million won ($608,000) in 2013 to buy the property located in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province, using donations from Hyundai Heavy Industries.
But the surviving victims were never afforded the opportunity to live at the house, while Yoon’s father has been residing there and acting as a “property manager.”
The purchase price of the house has also been called into question, because 750 million won was much higher than the market price in the area at the time. The group recently sold the facility for about 400 million won.
According to sources, Lee is planning to hold a news conference May 25. She is expected to once again reaffirm her earlier argument that activities for surviving sex slavery victims should be amended and should not endorse Yoon’s legislative activities.
Prosecutors conducted a searchand-seizure operation at the group’s office in Seoul, Wednesday, for about 12 hours until early Thursday morning, securing accounting documents.
After analyzing the documents, prosecutors are expected to summon Yoon and other people in charge for further investigation.