Jeonguiyeon and Yoon Mee-hyang Refute 'Personal Account Fundraising' Allegations, Claiming It Was Condolence Money Received as Sangju

Published 14 May.2020 17:36(KST)

"Last Year, Kim Bok-dong Grandmother Served as Chief Mourner at Funeral... Account Opened to Receive Condolence Money"

Former Director Yoon Mi-hyang of the Justice Memory Solidarity is speaking at the '1431st Regular Wednesday Demonstration for the Resolution of the Japanese Military Sexual Slavery Issue' held in front of the former Japanese Embassy in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the afternoon of March 18 / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ga-yeon] Allegations have arisen that Yoon Mi-hyang, a proportional representative elected member of the Democratic Party of Korea and former chairperson of the Justice and Memory Foundation (Jeonguiyeokdae), received donations for Japanese military comfort women victims through a personal account in her name. In response, Jeonguiyeokdae stated, "The account was disclosed as the bereaved family’s account to receive condolence money."

On the 14th, Jeonguiyeokdae posted a statement titled "Jeonguiyeokdae’s Explanation Regarding Media Reports" on its official Facebook page, saying, "Former Chairperson Yoon served as the bereaved family during the funeral of Kim Bok-dong, a women’s rights activist and victim of the Japanese military comfort women, on January 28 last year."

Jeonguiyeokdae explained, "In the process of preparing the funeral hall and recruiting citizen funeral committee members, the bereaved family’s account was disclosed to receive condolence money, as is commonly done by other organizations. Citizens either visited the funeral hall directly or transferred condolence money via bank transfer."

They continued, "The collected condolence money was used to conduct all funeral rites, including the noje ceremony on the day of the funeral, and the remaining funds were used for donations to civic groups and scholarships according to the deceased’s wishes. Regarding other personal fundraising, since the Fundraising Act was amended in 2006, it is understood that amounts under 10 million won are not subject to this law. In 2018, concerning An Jeom-soon, it was confirmed that condolence money was received as the standing funeral committee chairperson, not as fundraising."

Regarding the recent claim by 92-year-old comfort woman victim Lee Yong-soo that the use of donations from the Wednesday Demonstration was unclear, Jeonguiyeokdae said, "We understand this as feelings of disappointment and loss due to former Chairperson Yoon not being by her side, with whom she spent 30 years as comrades working to resolve the issue of Japanese military sexual slavery, and as a call to work harder toward resolving the problem."

Jeonguiyeokdae added, "We will continue our unwavering activities so that more people learn the historical truth of the Japanese military sexual slavery issue and that its resolution can be achieved."