Gil Won-ok, a victim-survivor of the Japanese military "comfort women" and a women's rights activist, passed away on February 16. She was born in Hwacheon, North Pyongan Province, in 1928. The family soon moved to Pyeongyang, where she spent her childhood. Her father was sent to prison, and one day, she heard that she could make money by getting a job at a factory in Manchuria. She left without telling her family and went to Manchuria to get her father out of prison. She was put on a train at Pyeongyang Station with several other women, and instead of arriving at a factory, we arrived at a Japanese military battlefield in Manchuria. There, she had to endure a terrible life.
When she turned 18, she returned to Incheon Port after the liberation, but she had nothing, so she had to earn money to return home. However, because of the division of the Korean, she could not return forever.
In 1998, she registered with the government as a victim of the Japanese military "comfort women." She actively campaigned for a just resolution of the issue of the Japanese military's sexual slavery. She participated in the Wednesday Demonstration every week, attended the UN Human Rights Council and the ILO General Conference, and traveled around the world to Australia, Canada, the United States, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany to raise awareness of the issue of Japanese military sexual slavery and to work for the restoration of the human rights of victims of wartime sexual violence.
She once said, “I am asking the Japanese government not to ask for food because I am hungry, nor am I asking for clothes. I am asking the Japanese government to honestly acknowledge the truth of history and, based on that truth, to make an official apology and provide legal reparation. I am not asking for money.”
Gil Won-ok, who lived with the hope of meeting her family again and who sang songs to forget all her worries, passed away on February 16, 2025, without receiving an official apology from the Japanese government. May she rest in peace in a world without pain.
When she turned 18, she returned to Incheon Port after the liberation, but she had nothing, so she had to earn money to return home. However, because of the division of the Korean, she could not return forever.
In 1998, she registered with the government as a victim of the Japanese military "comfort women." She actively campaigned for a just resolution of the issue of the Japanese military's sexual slavery. She participated in the Wednesday Demonstration every week, attended the UN Human Rights Council and the ILO General Conference, and traveled around the world to Australia, Canada, the United States, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany to raise awareness of the issue of Japanese military sexual slavery and to work for the restoration of the human rights of victims of wartime sexual violence.
She once said, “I am asking the Japanese government not to ask for food because I am hungry, nor am I asking for clothes. I am asking the Japanese government to honestly acknowledge the truth of history and, based on that truth, to make an official apology and provide legal reparation. I am not asking for money.”
Gil Won-ok, who lived with the hope of meeting her family again and who sang songs to forget all her worries, passed away on February 16, 2025, without receiving an official apology from the Japanese government. May she rest in peace in a world without pain.