On the morning of the 8th, Yoon Mee-hyang, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, is leaving her office at the National Assembly Members' Office Building. [Image source=Yonhap News]
[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] A request for investigation has been submitted to the prosecution to investigate the circumstances under which government subsidies were withdrawn from the bank account of comfort women victim Grandma Gil Won-ok (92) and the background of Democratic Party lawmaker Yoon Mi-hyang appearing in Grandma Gil’s will video.
On the 18th, the Rule of Law Restoration Action Alliance (Representative Lee Jong-bae) submitted an investigation request online to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, asking for an investigation into these suspicions recently raised in the media. Representative Lee attached a Chosun Ilbo article reporting the allegations as evidence along with the investigation request.
In the request, Representative Lee wrote, “If the support funds that Grandma Gil received monthly from the government and Seoul City were used arbitrarily without her consent, embezzlement or breach of trust charges may be established, and if donation funds were used by deceiving Grandma Gil, fraud charges may apply. We request an investigation into who used the support funds paid to Grandma Gil and how.”
He also stated, “Usually, wills are made for relatives, but despite Grandma Gil having children alive, it is incomprehensible that she effectively entrusted Yoon Mi-hyang with a role similar to that of an heir. Considering that comfort women victims usually ‘feared’ Yoon Mi-hyang, there is a possibility that Grandma Gil’s will was made under coercion, so we request an investigation into the circumstances of the will’s creation.”
Regarding the background of the investigation request, Representative Lee emphasized, “If the blood-earned support funds provided by the government and local governments for the livelihood and welfare of comfort women victims were embezzled for private gain, it is a shameless act worse than a beast and a cruel crime that kills the grandmothers twice.”
He further said, “A thorough investigation must be conducted into whether there was any coercion behind Grandma Gil designating Yoon Mi-hyang as the effective heir despite having children. The Yoon Mi-hyang incident is not simply a matter of embezzlement or breach of trust.”
Representative Lee reiterated, “Comfort women victims, who suffered humiliating human rights violations as women, have been subjected to even more humiliating human rights violations by Yoon Mi-hyang. We strongly urge the investigative authorities to thoroughly investigate Yoon Mi-hyang’s heinous and shameless criminal acts and punish her severely to restore the grandmothers’ human rights and honor and to uphold social justice.”
A media outlet citing the claim of Grandma Gil’s daughter-in-law Jo stated that recently the support funds Grandma Gil received monthly were withdrawn to another account, and when Jo demanded an explanation from Son Mo (60), the director of the Mapo Shelter who passed away on the 6th of this month, Son took an extreme step, according to the report.
The Criminal Division 4 of the Seoul Western District Prosecutors’ Office (Chief Prosecutor Choi Ji-seok), which is investigating accounting omission allegations related to the Justice and Memory Foundation (Jeonguiyeondae) for resolving the issue of Japanese military sexual slavery, summoned Grandma Gil’s son Pastor Hwang Sun-hee (61) and his wife Jo as witnesses on the 16th for questioning.
Meanwhile, according to the Chosun Ilbo report, Pastor Hwang and his wife checked Grandma Gil’s bank account details after seeing the Justice and Memory Foundation produce and upload a will video of Grandma Gil, who was in a state of dementia, on YouTube.
The video reportedly contained Grandma Gil saying, “I entrust all matters related to me to Yoon Mi-hyang, the representative of Jeongdaehyeop. Please be a support to the children of the Korean schools in Japan.”
Afterward, Pastor Hwang and his wife demanded to meet Yoon Mi-hyang, who uploaded the will video, saying to the Mapo Shelter director Son, “How can there be a will flying around when there is a son?” The video was deleted the next day.
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