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Comfort woman survivor Kim Bok-dong holding up an envelope containing her contributions to the Chosen Gakko in Japan after a typhoon in September. (provided by the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance)
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Kim Bok-dong plans on contributing all her remaining assets to educating ethnics Koreans in Japan
“Chosen Gakko students, I want you to know that I’ll keep supporting you as long as I live and use everything I own to keep you funded. So I want you to study hard and become outstanding people so that we can unify Korea and lay a path to peace.” As Kim Bok-dong, 93, lay in a bed at Severance Hospital, located in Seoul’s Seodaemun District, on Nov. 22, she was holding a check in her frail hand worth 30 million won (US$26,458). Kim wants the money to be used as a scholarship for students at Chosen Gakko, schools in Japan that are affiliated with North Korea. Kim, a former comfort woman, has an unusual amount of affection for ethnically Korean children living in Japan, also known as Zainichi Koreans. Since Kim was taken away at a young age to serve as a comfort woman, or sex slave for the Japanese army, she never managed to get a decent education. That may be why she has taken a particular interest in students at the Chosen Gakko, which don’t receive enough funding from the Japanese government. In 2014, Kim donated 50 million won (US$44,100) in seed money, which resulted in the scholarship foundation Kim Bok-dong’s Hope. Last September she donated an additional 10 million won (US$8,800) to restore a typhoon-damaged Chosen Gakko in Japan and paid a personal visit to the school in Osaka. Thanks to her scholarship fund, six Chosen Gakko students are receiving 250,000 yen (around US$2,200) a year toward academic costs. Yoon Mee-hyang, director of the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance, said on Nov. 23 that Kim’s latest contribution will allow 10 students to receive scholarship money starting next year. Kim is currently battling cancer. Hearing on Nov. 21 that the Reconciliation and Healing Foundation was being dissolved, she described the news as “a good thing,” but added, “It did take a long time.” The following morning on Nov. 22, she left the hospital to return to Our House of Peace, the home where she lives with fellow comfort woman survivor Gil Won-ok. Her health has deteriorated to the point where she requires round-the-clock assistance from caregivers. “We tried to get her to move to a nursing hospital, but she wanted to go to Our House of Peace,” Yoon explained. Kim’s wish is to receive a “sincere apology from [Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo] Abe.” Besides that, she also hopes that Zainichi Koreans in Japan “remain strong.” Kim’s latest scholarship fund donation amounted to 30 million won out of her 50 million won (US$44,097) in total assets. “It’s 30 million this time, and the next time I’m going to give the last 20 million [to the students],” she said. By Hwang Ye-rang, staff reporter Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
