Lonely Funeral Ceremony of a ``Comfort Women``

There was a funeral ceremony for a former ``comfort woman`` at 11:00 am yesterday at the Kangnam Hospital, Samsung Dong, Kangnam Ku, Seoul.

Hwang Ok-Im Grandmother (84). Only 10 people, including her relatives, were watching over her last moment. Hwang was drafted by the Japanese police when she was 19 years old and had to endure the painful time in China. Right after Korea’s independence, she came back to her hometown, Guhchang, Kyungnam, and married Kim Tae-Woong (passed away in 1998) in 1948, who came back from the coal mine in Kyushu, Japan. However, she could not give a birth.

After her husband passed away, Hwang lived with other former ``comfort women`` in the `Sharing House` in Kwangjoo City, Kyunggi, run by the Korea Council for the Women Drafted for the Military Sexual Slavery by Japan (KC). Hwang could not move and speak well due to the paralysis. Moreover, Hwang had difficulties in daily life due to the bad eyesight. She moved into her brother-in-law Kim Sung-Gon’s (78, Yeoksam Dong, Kangnam Ku, Seoul) house in 1999, and lived in the welfare house for the elderly people in Junggae Dong, Nowon Ku, Seoul since last year.

Mr. Kim said, ``When my sister-in-law had a clear consciousness a few month ago, she told me, `Having had a ruined life, I leave the world without a child. Please set up a gravestone for me.```

Ahn Mi-Gang, the general secretary of the KC, who participated in the funeral, said that ``nobody knows how much longer the 140 former ``comfort women`` will live. Psychological treatment for these women to overcome their pain is urgently required.``

Min Dong-Yong mindy@donga.com