Sex Slavery Survivor Dies

[Anchor Lead]

A Korean victim of Japanese wartime sex slavery who had been residing in China has passed away. Her wish to visit her home country before she died never came true. Here is her heartrending story.

[Pkg]

Park Cha-soon was forced to serve as a sex slave for the Japanese army in China when she was just 19. Because of her shame, she spent the remainder of her life in China.

[Soundbite] "Didn't you want to go back to Korea when you were young?"

[Soundbite] Late Park Cha-soon/Aug. 2015) : "I couldn't find my family. I had nobody to contact."

During the more than seven decades of her life in a foreign land, Park forgot most of her native language, but she never forgot these two words.

[Soundbite] "Father, mother."

Park, who was the only surviving Korean victim of Japanese sex slavery in China, has passed away recently. She was 95. Last year, Park prepared to visit Korea, but she had to cancel her trip due to health issues. She never got to step on Korean soil again. Park's Chinese adopted daughter and her husband, who took care of the elderly woman, will hold a funeral for her in China on January 20th. The Consulate General of Korea to Wuhan will dispatch its consuls to support the funeral.

[Soundbite] Kim Myung-jin(Consul, S. Korean Consulate General in Wuhan) : "We will provide all-out support for the funeral to make sure that she is laid to rest with honor."

After enduring unspeakable suffering as a "comfort woman" of the Japanese army, this woman had to spend all her life away from her beloved home country.