Grandmother Lee Yong-soo: "Wednesday Demonstration Donations Lack Transparency"... Justice Memory Solidarity: "Seems to Be a Misunderstanding"

Justice Memory Solidarity: "Transparent Disclosure of Donation Usage Details"

Grandmother Lee Yong-soo, a surviving victim of the Japanese military 'comfort women', is criticizing related organizations and insisting that the Wednesday Demonstration should be abolished during a press conference held at a tea house in Nam-gu, Daegu on the afternoon of the 7th. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ga-yeon] Lee Yong-soo (92), a women's rights activist and former comfort woman victim of the Japanese military, criticized the related organization for the lack of transparency in the use of donations for the Wednesday Demonstration. The organization denied her claims as untrue.

On the 7th, Lee held a press conference at a tea house in Nam-gu, Daegu, stating, "The Wednesday Demonstration should be abolished," and claimed, "Students nationwide donate money for the (comfort women) grandmothers, but it has never been used for the grandmothers."

Regarding a book published by a comfort women-related organization compiling cases of comfort women victims, she also claimed that "the content was released and sold without proper verification," implying that she was exploited by the organization.

She particularly mentioned Yoon Mi-hyang, former director of the Justice and Memory Foundation who was elected as a proportional representative for the Democratic Party of Citizens in the 21st general election, saying, "The comfort women issue should be resolved by Yoon Mi-hyang, who was the head of Jeongdaehyeop. Yoon Mi-hyang should not become a member of the National Assembly. This issue must be resolved," raising her voice.

She also refuted recent media interviews where Yoon stated that "Lee supported Yoon and exchanged kind words," calling it "all fabricated by Yoon."

Han Kyung-hee, Secretary General of the Justice and Memory Foundation, responded to Yonhap News on the same day, saying, "Donations have been used to support the victim grandmothers and publish related books, as well as for overall activities to resolve the issue of the Japanese military sexual slavery, and all details are transparently disclosed," countering Lee's claims.

Han added, "We frequently contact Grandma Lee Yong-soo and continuously send her necessary items such as masks and food she wants," and said, "The grandmothers and activists who have worked together for 30 years are like family. There may be moments of conflict and misunderstanding in the difficult process of fighting and then working together again, which might have caused Grandma Lee to feel hurt or misunderstood."

She continued, "It is regrettable that some people seem to be trying to exploit Grandma Lee's confusion, hurt feelings, and fragile health," adding, "We keep calling her regularly and plan to visit her tomorrow."

Regarding Yoon, she explained, "At first, Grandma Lee said, 'Work hard and do well,' and 'That's good,' but later said, 'You shouldn't go. You have to stay with me until the end,'" suggesting that it was difficult for her to separate the activism from Yoon as a person.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.