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| People march during the funeral of a former South Korean 'comfort woman' Kim Bok-dong in Seoul, South Korea, Friday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk |
By Kim Jae-heun
More than 1,000 people walked with the funeral procession for the late former comfort woman Kim Bok-dong, stopping by venues meaningful to Kim Friday, including the former Japanese embassy in Jongno-gu, central Seoul.
The funeral ceremony began at Yonsei University Severance Hospital in western Seoul, at 6 a.m. where some 40 civic activists of the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance (KCJR) representing Kim paid tribute to her. Lee Yong-su, another victim of Japan's wartime atrocities, was present to bid a last farewell to her old friend.
The procession headed for a shelter in nearby Mapo-gu, where Kim had stayed until her death.
There, another survivor Gil Won-ok greeted Kim. Kim, who had no family, lived with other victims including Gil at the shelter run by the KCJR.
"Why did you go so early? Life wasn't that bad here after all. I hope you go somewhere nice and stay comfortable there. I will follow you soon," said Gil, as she tenderly stroked Kim's portrait with her hands.
The man holding Kim's portrait also visited Kim's room at the shelter before leaving for Seoul Square in front of City Hall.
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| People march during the funeral of a former South Korean 'comfort woman' Kim Bok-dong in Seoul, South Korea, Friday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk |
Some 1,000 citizens joined the ceremony from there as the funeral was open to the public to join freely. They held 94 funeral streamers representing her Korean age of 94.
People held banners that read "Kim, become a butterfly and fly freely," "Kim, our hero, hope and mother," and "World without sexual violence."
The funeral procession marched toward the former Japanese embassy building where a weekly Wednesday Rally has been held for the last 27 years to protest Japan, which has not properly acknowledged its historical wartime sex slavery issue that took place during the 1910-45 occupation of Korea.
The Japanese government moved its embassy to nearby Twin Tree Tower for safety reasons in July 2015. But the civic group decided to stage its protest at the same place considering the rallies have been held there for a long time and the venue became symbolic with the comfort woman statue set up there.
Inside the vehicle carrying Kim's coffin, the recorded voice of the late comfort woman shouted "Tell the Japanese government to resolve the issue as soon as possible, do you understand? We did not fight to receive compensation. We will not receive any money even if that is 100 billion won. Make an apology now."
When the vehicle arrived at the former Japanese embassy site, 1,000 people shouted "Make an official apology" and "Fulfill your legal compensation."
Kim died Monday evening after a long fight with cancer. She had spent her latter years advocating for human rights and testified to the brutality of imperial Japan in front of international society.
After her death, only 23 known victims of the wartime sexual slavery remain here.
