Funeral held for director of 'Mapo Shelter'... Yoon Mi-hyang and Justice Society officials attend

Japanese Military Comfort Women Victim 'Caregiver' Volunteer
Active for 16 Years After Working at Shelter in 2004
Assemblywoman Yoon Mi-hyang, Director Lee Na-young, and Others
Justice and Women's Organizations Including Jeonguiyeon and Korean Women's Associations
About 100 Related Persons Attend Funeral Ceremony

On the 10th, the hearse carrying the remains of Son Mo, the director of the Justice Memory Solidarity (Jeonguiyeon) shelter "Our House of Peace" in Mapo-gu, Seoul, departed from the funeral hall at Sinchon Severance Hospital in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghoon Jeong] The funeral procession for the late Son Mo (60), director of 'Peace Our House' (Mapo Shelter), a living space for former Japanese military comfort women victims, was held on the morning of the 10th as a 'Women's Human Rights Civic Funeral.'

At 7 a.m. that day, at the funeral hall set up in Seoul Sinchon Severance Hospital, about 100 people, including Yoon Mee-hyang, a member of the Democratic Party and former chairperson of the Justice and Memory Foundation (Jeonguiyeon), current chairperson Lee Na-young, and representatives of civic groups, busily moved to bid farewell to the deceased. Those who had rested on sofas and chairs around the funeral room prepared to finish the funeral by gathering their personal belongings.

At around 7:30 a.m., attendees moved to the farewell hall for the funeral procession. Yoon, Lee, and Han Kyung-hee, secretary-general of Jeonguiyeon, followed. The hearse carrying the late Director Son left the hospital around 8:15 a.m. heading to the burial site. Yoon boarded the bus accompanying the hearse. The burial site was only known as Seonyeong (ancestral graves and surrounding land).

After the funeral procession ended that day, Chairperson Lee said, "I will speak about (Director Son's funeral and related matters) at the Wednesday Demonstration held at noon on the 10th." Although Lee appeared visibly exhausted, she comforted colleagues who had shared the three-day funeral and expressed her determination to continue activities to resolve the comfort women issue.

At a memorial event held by civic groups including Jeonguiyeon, the support group for Korean schools in Japan 'Kim Bok-dong's Dream,' and the Korean Women's Associations United at 7 p.m. the previous evening, Chairperson Lee said, "(Director Son) struggled with excessive prosecution investigations and indiscriminate media coverage, felt anxious every day, yet prioritized the well-being of grandmother Gil Won-ok at the shelter," adding, "I am truly sorry for not being able to protect her until the end."

The police investigation into the circumstances of the death is progressing rapidly. The previous afternoon, the police completed digital forensic work on Son's mobile phone. The late Director Son, who had worked at 'Peace Our House' since 2004, was found dead in the bathroom of her home in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, on the afternoon of the 6th. It is known that she had expressed mental distress to those around her after the prosecution searched the Mapo shelter on the 21st of last month.

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