Forensic Service 1st Autopsy Result: "Comfort Women Shelter Director Presumed to Have Taken Extreme Action"

The funeral hall for Son, the head of the living space for Japanese military comfort women victims operated by the Solidarity for Justice and Remembrance, "Our House of Peace (Mapo Shelter)," was set up on the 8th at the Severance Hospital funeral hall in Sinchon, Seoul. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] The autopsy results for Son Mo (60), the director of the Japanese military comfort women victims' shelter "Peace Our House (Mapo Shelter)" located in Mapo-gu, Seoul, who was found dead on the 6th, showed no signs of criminal suspicion.

On the morning of the 8th, the Paju Police Station in Gyeonggi Province announced that they had received a preliminary verbal report from the forensic pathologist at the National Forensic Service who conducted the autopsy on Son, stating there was no evidence of criminal activity. It is expected to take about two weeks for detailed tests such as drug reactions to be completed.

According to the police, the autopsy of Son revealed no traces suggesting death caused by external force. Hesitation wounds, which typically appear when a person attempts self-harm but fails to inflict a fatal injury at once, were found on the wrists and abdomen.

Analysis of closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage showed that Son entered his apartment in downtown Paju at 10:57 a.m. on the 6th and did not leave afterward. No signs of forced entry into the residence were found. However, no notes presumed to be a suicide note were discovered at Son’s home. The police plan to investigate the circumstances of the death by conducting digital forensic work on Mr. A’s mobile phone.

Son was found dead in the bathroom of his home on the night of the 6th. A colleague from the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan (the predecessor of Justice for Peace and Memory) reported to the fire department after failing to contact Son. Police and fire officials who arrived at around 10:35 p.m. on the same day opened the door and found Mr. A deceased in the bathroom.

The police are conducting an investigation into the circumstances of the death separately from the cause of death inquiry. It is known that Son had expressed to those around him that he was struggling due to the search and seizure of the shelter by the prosecution on the 21st of last month, which was conducted because some accounting records of Justice Memory Solidarity (Jeonguiyeon) were stored there.

The body, after the autopsy, was moved to the funeral hall at Severance Hospital in Sinchon, Seoul, where the bereaved family and Justice Memory Solidarity had prepared a mourning place.

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