One more Korean woman who was forced by Japan into sexual slavery during World War II died Friday, a civic group said, amid Tokyo's persistent refusal to apologize and compensate them.
The elderly victim, whose identity was withheld, died earlier in the day at the age of 80, according to the Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan.
Her death put the number of South Korea's government-registered surviving victims of Japan's enforced sexual enslavement at 60, the council said. Initially, a total of 234 victims were on the list.
"She was a warm-hearted person, as she often gave the staff here bottles of rice wine as gifts," the council official said.
Seoul has increased pressure on Tokyo to resolve the grievances of the victims, saying the issue is becoming increasingly urgent as most victims are elderly, well over 80 years old, and may die before they receive compensation or an apology from Japan.
Japan, however, has been ignoring calls for official talks on compensating the aging Korean women, claiming all issues regarding its colonial rule were settled in a 1965 package compensation deal under which the two countries normalized their relations.
Provoking further resentment, the Japanese government has recently been denying the enforced nature of its mobilization, which runs counter to a 1993 apology that Japan's then-Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono issued for the enforced sex slavery. The so-called "Kono statement" has been considered a key element of the basis for relations between the two countries.
Historians say up to 200,000 women, mostly Koreans, were coerced into sexual slavery at front-line Japanese military brothels during World War II. Moreover, former sex slaves, who are euphemistically called "comfort women," have long testified about the hardship they were forced into. (Yonhap)