South Korea charges former 'comfort women' activist with fraud

[ThirdTerm]

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean prosecutors on Monday indicted the former leader of an advocacy group for victims of Japanese wartime sexual exploitation on charges of fraud and embezzlement.

Yoon Mee-hyang stepped down as head of the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, better known as Jungdaehyup, this year to launch a successful bid for a seat in parliament, where she now serves as a member of the ruling party.

Since then, she has been dogged by allegations that she used government subsidies for her own benefit, rather than to help the “comfort women” - a Japanese euphemism for those forced to work in Japan’s wartime brothels.

Prosecutors said in a statement, Yoon was charged on eight counts, including illegally receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in government subsidies, spending donations to the non-profit group on personal purchases, and compelling a victim who was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease to donate to the foundation, among other crimes.

Calls to Yoon and to the group she used to lead were not answered, but Yonhap news agency reported that she released a statement expressing regret over the charges, vowing to prove her innocence in court, and apologising for causing controversy.

In May, Lee Yong-soo, a prominent victim and activist, accused Yoon of exploiting the women to garner government funds and public donations while spending little money on them.

South Korea charges former comfort women activist with fraud, embezzlement | Reuters

Yoon Mee-hyang has been head of the most influential comfort women support group called the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for many decades, organizing weekly protests against Japan. Yoon was instrumental in blocking the bilateral deal between South Korea and Japan to compensate for former comfort women in the 1990s, by which the victims could have received tens of thousands of dollars each. This makes perfect sense because if the issue is resolved animably, she cannot make a living off donations. Yoon bought a mansion for $200,000 by misappropriating the comfort women fund and she spent over $1 million for personal use overall, including her daughter's tuition fees for attending an American college.