Another South Korean victim, who was forced into sex slavery for Japan’s military brothels during World War II, died at the age of 94 on Monday, reducing the number of surviving victims to 24.
The victim, only identified with her surname Lee, passed away in the morning due to deteriorating health, according to the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, a local civic group supporting the wartime sex slave victims.
The deceased Lee was abducted by Japanese soldiers at the age of 17 in 1942, when she was returning home after work. She was then moved by force to Northeast China where Lee was coerced into sex enslavement for Japan’s military brothels, according to the civic group.
Lee’s death left only 24 surviving victims of Japan’s wartime sex slavery, out of the 238 officially registered with the South Korean government as former sex slaves.
Historians said as many as 400,000 women from Asian countries were forced into sex enslavement for Japanese military brothels during the Pacific War.
The Korean Peninsula was colonized by the Imperial Japan from 1910 to 1945.
