Justice Network Closes 'Mapo Shelter' Supporting Japanese Military Comfort Women Victims

Our Home of Peace in Mapo-gu, Seoul 'Mapo Shelter' / Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghoon Jeong] The shelter for victims of the Japanese military sexual slavery, "Our House of Peace" (Mapo Shelter), operated by the Justice and Memory Foundation (Jeonguiyeondae), has been closed. With this, there are no longer any facilities for comfort women victims operated by Jeonguiyeondae.

According to Jeonguiyeondae on the 28th, the organization completed moving out the day before, organizing the belongings of the grandmothers and the organization's records within the Mapo Shelter. These materials and items were reportedly transferred to a separate storage facility prepared in Mapo-gu.

The Mapo Shelter is a standalone house with one basement floor and two above-ground floors located in Yeonnam-dong, Mapo-gu. It was established in 2012 through a rent-free lease from Myeongseong Church. The predecessor of Jeonguiyeondae, the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan (Jeongdaehyeop), had been using an existing shelter facility in Seodaemun-gu, but due to poor conditions, they sought a new space and borrowed the shelter building from Myeongseong Church.

The shelter was home to the late grandmothers Lee Soon-deok (1918?2017) and Kim Bok-dong (1928?2019) during their lifetimes, and until June of this year, grandmother Gil Won-ok (92) lived there with the help of caregivers. In June of this year, grandmother Gil left the Mapo Shelter together with her adopted son, Pastor Hwang. Pastor Hwang is known to have expressed his intention to personally care for the grandmother after Director Son Young-mi passed away.