Former sex slave donates entire wealth

The late Hwang Geum-ja

By Kwon Ji-youn

The late Hwang Geum-ja, a victim of Japanese sexual slavery, has had her inheritance donated to the Gangseo Scholarship Committee in accordance with her will.

Hwang, who died on Jan. 26 at age 91, had requested that all the money she saved during her lifetime be used to help students who are unable to continue their academic endeavors because of financial difficulties.

The donation amounts to 70 million won. She also had her house leasing deposit of two million won donated.

Hwang was born in 1924 in Hamkyung Province, now part of North Korea. At the age of 13, she began working in a glass factory, but was forced into sexual slavery in Manchuria three years later.

She returned to Korea after the country’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule and lived alone. She was registered as a victim of sexual slavery.

This is Hwang’s second donation. Between 2006 and 2011, she donated 130 million won she earned from selling waste paper she collected on the streets to the municipal government to be used as scholarships. This provided 12 students with 24 million won each.

The donation ceremony will take place today at the Gangseo-gu Office. Two students will receive scholarships amounting to 2 million won at the ceremony.