Yoon Mee-hyang "I Do Not Consider Resigning... My Father Slept in the Warehouse"

Yoon Mee-hyang, representative of the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, is urging the Japanese government to issue an official apology at the 1,343rd regular Wednesday demonstration for the resolution of the Japanese military sexual slavery issue, held on the 11th at Peace Road in front of the Embassy of Japan in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Wondara] Yoon Mi-hyang, the elected member of the Democratic Party of Korea, clearly stated that she has no intention of resigning. The United Future Party has raised suspicions that Yoon purchased a shelter for Japanese military comfort women victims at a high price and used it as a pension.

On the morning of the 18th, Yoon appeared on CBS Radio and responded to the question, "The United Future Party is demanding a fact-finding investigation and calling for the elected member's resignation," by saying, "I am not considering the resignation request. I would like to ask people to watch closely through my legislative activities."

Regarding the suspicion about the apartment purchase, Yoon rebutted, "The claim that I bought the apartment with 200 million won in cash is because I sold the apartment I was living in to buy that apartment," adding, "I have all the apartment sale receipts." She continued, "Auctions conducted by the government are done in cash," and "The entire process, including registration by the judicial scrivener, is fully disclosed."

On the suspicion that the shelter was purchased at a price higher than the surrounding market price, she explained, "I was not able to investigate thoroughly," and "Because I was being urged to purchase quickly by the Community Chest of Korea and Hyundai Heavy Industries."

Regarding the reason for purchasing from Lee Gyu-min, an acquaintance of her husband and also an elected member, she said, "I was already acquainted with him," and "I knew that for several months we had been going around the Gyeonggi area every evening (to find a shelter), and my husband suggested to the elected member he was close to whether there was something like this in Anseong, which led to the deal."

On why the interior costs alone amounted to 100 million won, she said, "Because the place is in the forest, it was not possible for the grandmothers to stay with just a boiler. We installed a fireplace and purchased blankets," adding, "Even for something like blinds, we used high-end ones to make the grandmothers feel comfortable."

Regarding her father working as the shelter manager and receiving a salary, and the Justice Party's apology for being 'thoughtless' about this, she said, "I think the Justice Party had no choice but to publicly declare that they were thoughtless. I also believe that if the labor costs had been properly paid and employment handled correctly, this would not have happened."

However, she explained, "At that time, he was working as a factory manager at a food company in Hwaseong and receiving a stable salary," and "We needed someone trustworthy. From a daughter's perspective, I asked my father." She added, "There was an internal suggestion that since the healing center had several rooms, he could stay in at least one, but because he was my father, I asked him to build a storage room and watch over it," and "He slept in a container box."

When asked about the shelter being used as a pension, she said, "When the program could no longer continue, it was decided to use the place for workshops by civic groups," and "We charged a basic usage fee. We received basic costs such as electricity and heating bills."

Regarding receiving condolence money into Yoon’s account at the time of Grandma Kim Bok-dong’s funeral, she said, "Generally, when a funeral occurs, the chief mourner creates a bank account to manage the expenses, which is customary," and "As the chief mourner of the funeral committee, I opened the account in my name."

When asked if she could disclose the details at that time, she replied, "I believe it will be clearly revealed during the upcoming prosecution investigation."

Yoon said, "I started this work at 28 and ran tirelessly until I reached 60," and "Now is the time to stop and reflect on my life. I hope to meet Grandma Lee Yong-soo soon and live as we did before."

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