Yoon Mi-hyang: "Prosecutors Must Take Responsibility for Claims That Insulted Comfort Women Victims"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] On the 14th, Yoon Mi-hyang, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, expressed "deep regret" over the prosecution's decision to indict without detention and refuted the allegations point by point. She stated, "I will prove my innocence in court," but to avoid burdening the party, she announced, "I will not exercise any party membership rights and will only faithfully fulfill my duties as a party member."

In a statement released that day, Representative Yoon said, "Over the past three months, I, the organization, and the activists have sincerely cooperated with the investigation and provided sufficient explanations. Nevertheless, I express deep regret over the prosecution's announcement of the investigation results, which forcibly proceeded with an indictment without detention."

Regarding the allegations of fraudulent receipt of subsidies and fraud, she stated, "The War and Women's Human Rights Museum and Jeong Dae-hyeop submitted all necessary documents and met the requirements to receive and execute subsidies according to established procedures. The prosecution should not distort and disparage the fact that activists donated their wages, which were legitimately earned through the subsidy support project, to the organization as fraud and embezzlement."

Concerning the prosecution's claim of violating the Act on the Collection and Use of Donations, she rebutted, "Jeong Dae-hyeop was mainly operated with membership fees from supporters who sympathized with and supported the organization's activities, as stated in its articles of association. Even condolence money, which is different in nature from ordinary donations such as the funeral expenses for Grandmother Kim Bok-dong, is being treated as illegal activity."

Regarding the use of personal accounts for fundraising being regarded as embezzlement, she emphasized, "All funds raised were used for public purposes, and Yoon Mi-hyang did not personally appropriate any funds."

Yoon said, "The prosecution claimed that the donation of the 'Women's Human Rights Award' prize money by the comfort women victims was 'quasi-fraud.' At that time, the grandmothers clearly understood the meaning of the 'Women's Human Rights Award' and voluntarily donated the prize money to share its significance." She added, "The claim that a grandmother suffering from severe dementia was deceived ignores the mental and physical autonomy of the grandmother and is an accusation that insults the 'comfort women' victims again. The prosecution must take responsibility for this."

Regarding the prosecution's view of the Anseong Healing Center as an unregistered lodging facility, she said, "I feel devastated." Yoon stated, "The Anseong Healing Center was a space for Japanese military 'comfort women' victims, but it was not in a situation to be used. However, the Anseong Healing Center was utilized as a space for peace and solidarity to uphold the spirit of the Japanese military 'comfort women' victims, and a nominal fee was charged to groups using the space to ensure responsibility for its use. The prosecution's view of the Anseong Healing Center as a lodging facility is unfair."

Following the statement, she posted on Facebook, saying, "I believe that my personal indictment should no longer burden the party. From today, I will resign from all party positions until the charges imposed by the prosecution are cleared, will not exercise any party membership rights, and will only faithfully fulfill my duties as a party member."

She continued, "I request the party leadership to immediately accept this request. Once again, I apologize to all Democratic Party members for causing much concern."

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