What Happened at Gwangju Nanum House? ... Misuse of Donations and Emotional Abuse of Grandmothers

Raised 8.8 Billion KRW in Donations Over 5 Years
Donation Usage Not Disclosed
Only 2.3% (200 Million KRW) Spent on Grandmother
Signs of Emotional Abuse Also Revealed

Song Ki-chun, co-head of the Nanum House Public-Private Joint Investigation Team, is announcing the results of the Nanum House public-private joint investigation at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government briefing room on the 11th.

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] The social welfare corporation of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, "Nanum-ui Jip," which manages residential facilities for former Japanese military comfort women, has been found to have raised tens of billions of won in donations but used the funds to purchase land or save for building construction instead of directly benefiting the grandmothers.

It was also confirmed that emotional abuse was inflicted on the former comfort women. Gyeonggi Province plans to review the detailed findings once the final investigation results are out, request a police investigation, and take administrative action against violations of related laws such as the Social Welfare Services Act.

The Nanum-ui Jip public-private joint investigation team held a briefing at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government Office in Suwon on the 11th and announced the results of an investigation conducted from the 6th to the 22nd of last month targeting the social welfare corporation Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism Nanum-ui Jip (corporation), the elderly residential facility Nanum-ui Jip (facility), the Japanese Military Comfort Women History Museum, and the International Peace and Human Rights Center.

According to the investigation, Nanum-ui Jip promoted donations through its website and sent official donation request letters to various organizations from 2015 to 2019, raising approximately 8.8 billion won in donations over the past five years for "the grandmothers' living, welfare, and testimony activities."

However, during this process, neither the corporation nor the facility registered the fundraising under the "Act on the Solicitation and Use of Donations," resulting in the amount and usage details of the donations not being properly disclosed, and no inspections by the registration authority were conducted.

The current "Act on the Solicitation and Use of Donations" requires registration with the registration authority (the Ministry of the Interior and Safety for amounts exceeding 1 billion won) when soliciting donations exceeding 10 million won.

Moreover, of the 8.8 billion won in donations, only 2.3%, or 200 million won, was transferred to the Nanum-ui Jip nursing facility where the grandmothers actually live, and even this transfer was spent on indirect expenses for facility operation rather than direct costs for the grandmothers.

On the other hand, 2.6 billion won of the donations was used for purchasing land, expanding living quarters, constructing the artifact exhibition hall and memorial hall, and creating a memorial park, all of which are property development costs for the operating corporation. The remaining donations were confirmed to be reserved for the International Peace and Human Rights Center and nursing home construction.

The public-private joint investigation team also uncovered improper board resolution procedures during this investigation.

Although Nanum-ui Jip's corporate bylaws included a disqualification system for directors, it was revealed that a director candidate participated in the director appointment process and approved their own appointment as a director.

Additionally, in the board meeting last November, three outside directors directly participated in the meeting to proceed with the agenda regarding their own director appointments due to a lack of quorum.

The joint investigation team also confirmed signs of emotional abuse against the former comfort women and that precious records of the grandmothers' lives and struggle history were being neglected.

Song Ki-chun, head of the public-private joint investigation team and professor at Jeonbuk National University Law School, stated, "Caregivers verbally abused the grandmothers with phrases like 'Grandmother, throw it away' and 'You should be scolded,' focusing especially on severely ill grandmothers who were unable to communicate or move. The investigation team believes that the caregivers' abusive behavior is not merely individual misconduct but may stem from medical care gaps and excessive workloads arising from Nanum-ui Jip's operational issues."

Song also noted, "The lists of admissions and discharges were not properly managed, and the grandmothers' drawings, photos, and letters of support from the public were left in sacks or plastic bags on the building's veranda. Among these were materials designated as national records, and original documents displayed in the First History Hall were damaged due to lack of humidity control."

Gyeonggi Province plans to receive the final investigation results from the public-private joint investigation team, conduct a detailed review, request a police investigation, and take administrative action against violations of related laws such as the Social Welfare Services Act.

Song suggested, "Problems arose in the operation of the corporation and facility according to the Nanum-ui Jip investigation results, and to resolve these, it is necessary to form a public-private council including experts and citizens. The council should closely discuss and prepare normalization measures regarding 'the grandmothers' comfortable remaining years' and the 'comfort women history' records and preservation."

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