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Kim Kun-ja, a woman who was sexually enslaved by Japanese military during World War II, died on Sunday. She was 89.
According to the House of Sharing, a shelter for the surviving victims, Kim was found dead at 8:03 a.m. on Sunday and didn't suffer any visible illness. The shelter said she died of "old age."
With Kim's death, the remaining number of Korean survivors is 37.
Born in 1926 in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province, Kim was lured into sex slavery at the age of 17. She was first taken to Hunchun in northeastern China, where she was forced to have sex with Japanese soldiers there for a year-and-a-half. She recounted she was with up to 40 men a day. She suffered venereal diseases and had one abortion. She also had to endure constant beating from the soldiers, which caused a permanent injury to one of her ears.
According to the House of Sharing, Kim was moved to another town near Hunchun _ which she remembered as Gokashi _ where she was liberated.
She said she had thought her life was useless during the three years of sexual slavery and attempted suicide seven times.
After Korea's liberation on Aug. 15, 1945, she walked 37 days to return to her hometown.
Kim moved in with her teenage lover and was expecting to marry. But, her boyfriend took his own life amid strong opposition from his parents, and she was left alone with an unborn child. The child died before turning six months old. She lived alone since then.
Kim moved to the House of Sharing in 1998 and spoke up for justice.
In 2007, she testified at the U.S. Congress about her plight. She also attended the weekly protests in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul.
Her funeral service will take place in Cha Hospital in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday.
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