In brief
Gil Won-ok, a survivor of Japan's wartime sexual slavery and a tireless campaigner for justice, passed away at 96. Despite her struggles with health issues, she remained a vocal critic of Japan's refusal to apologize or compensate victims, emphasizing the importance of continuing the fight for justice even after her death.
Gil Won-ok, a Korean woman and one of the last surviving victims of sexual slavery during World War II, died recently at the age of 96 in her home in Incheon, South Korea. The South Korean government confirmed her passing, although the cause of death was unspecified. Ms. Gil's health had been declining in her final years due to Alzheimer's and other age-related ailments.Throughout her life, Gil Won-ok became a powerful voice against the injustices faced by "comfort women," the term used for women coerced into sexual servitude by the Japanese military during the war. Her dedication to securing an official apology and reparations from Japan was unwavering, and despite her death, she maintained that the fight for justice would continue through future generations. Since the early 1990s, approximately 240 South Korean women have bravely come forward to share their experiences, but only seven remain alive today, with an average age of 95. In a notable statement made in 2013, Ms. Gil declared, “They are wrong if they think it will be over when the last of us die,” underlining her belief that the cultural memory and fight for justice would persist beyond her lifetime.In South Korea, the collective narrative of the comfort women has become a poignant representation of the nation's historical suffering under Japanese occupation from 1910 to 1945. Ms. Gil's funeral attracted significant attention from public officials and politicians who honored her contributions and the broader campaign for remembrance and justice in Korean society. Her legacy stands as a testament to resilience and the enduring pursuit of human rights for victims of wartime atrocities.
