'Comfort women' activist refuses to resign over donation scandal
Yoon Mee-hyang, who was at the time a leader of the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, participates in the weekly Wednesday rally, Feb. 26, in front of the former Japanese Embassy compound in Seoul to protest Japan's sex slavery of Korean women during World War II. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
By Jun Ji-hye
Yoon Mee-hyang, a lawmaker-elect and former head of a civic group for “comfort women,” refused to abandon her parliamentary seat, Monday, despite mounting controversy surrounding the group, including the alleged misuse of citizens' donations.
Comfort women is a euphemistic term for the women and girls who were forced by Japan's military to serve soldiers in brothels during World War II.
“I offer my sincere apologies for the ongoing situations, but I am not considering accepting the request for resignation,” Yoon said during her radio appearance. “I will prove my sincerity through my parliamentary activities.”
Yoon won a proportional representation National Assembly seat in April for the Civil Together party, a satellite party of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea.
Controversies surrounding the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan began after Lee Yong-soo, one of the surviving victims of Japan's wartime sex slavery, claimed May 7 that the group has never used citizens' donations for the benefit of the victims.
Suspicion has also arisen that the group poorly managed a country house it had bought to offer housing to the women.
Seen is a country house in Anseong, Gyeoggi Province, which the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan bought in 2013 to provide housing for the surviving victims of Japan's wartime sex slavery. But criticism has arisen that the victims were never allowed to stay there. / Yonhap
The house called a “healing center” for the victims was built on 800 square meters of land in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province.
The group spent about 750 million won ($608,000) to buy the property in 2013, using donations from Hyundai Heavy Industries.
But the surviving victims were never afforded the opportunity to live at the healing center, while Yoon's father has been residing there and acting as a “property manager.”
Yoon's father has received a total of 75.8 million won from the group over the past six years for “managing” the building.
Controversy flared up further after it became known that the purchase price of 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.
While denying that the purchase price was far higher than the market value, Yoon made an apology for appointing her father as the building manager.
“It was an inconsiderate choice,” she said.
Meanwhile, a civic group that emphasizes “the rule of law” filed a complaint with the prosecution against Yoon, also Monday, for alleged breach of trust.
The group claimed that the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan had purchased the country house at a high price and sold it at a loss.
“Yoon neglected her task of using the donations for the public interest, and brought a loss for her group,” the group said in a statement.