Choi Yeontae's family representative said, "The government must provide preliminary compensation while even one grandmother is still alive."
Grandmother An Hee-soo, a victim of the Japanese colonial era labor corps, passed away on the 21st at the age of 93. Photo by Joo Cheol-in lx906@
[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Jucheol In] An Hee-su, a 93-year-old grandmother from Masan, Gyeongnam, who was a victim of the ‘Worker Spirit Corps’ during the Japanese colonial period, passed away on the 21st.
The Citizens' Group for Grandmothers of the Worker Spirit Corps and the Institute for Korean Historical Issues announced that Grandmother An passed away from old age on the morning of the 21st at a hospital in Changwon.
She was forcibly mobilized to the Fujikoshi Company, a military factory in Toyama, Japan, in 1944 when she was in the 6th grade at Seongho Elementary School in Masan, suffering forced labor.
At that time, a Japanese teacher incited her with lies such as, “If you go to Fujikoshi, you can attend higher schools, learn flower arranging, and earn money.” Fujikoshi was the company that mobilized the most workers from Joseon as part of the Worker Spirit Corps.
According to 1945 records, 1,089 people mobilized from all over Joseon were working at this company at that time. The deceased endured harsh labor, receiving military-style training from just two days after being taken to the Fujikoshi factory.
Breakfast consisted of a quarter bowl of rice, one piece of pickled radish, and soybean paste soup, and lunch was only one triangular bread. She performed various tasks using a shelf machine more than twice her size. One of these tasks was to put oil into a moving machine, then place a funnel on the oil and suck it up by mouth.
She testified during her lifetime that she experienced physical and mental suffering from heavy labor at a young age and never received any wages for her work.
Grandmother An and other victims filed a lawsuit against Fujikoshi in a Japanese local court in 2003 seeking damages but ultimately lost in 2011. They filed another lawsuit against Fujikoshi at the Seoul Central District Court in 2013 and won consecutively in the first and second trials.
However, Grandmother An passed away while waiting for the Supreme Court’s final ruling. When the lawsuit was filed, there were 17 plaintiffs, including 13 victims and 4 bereaved family members, but 5, including Grandmother An, died during the trial, leaving only 8 victims currently alive.
Nevertheless, the bereaved families of the deceased victims are determined to continue the lawsuit. Most female victims of the Worker Spirit Corps who were forcibly mobilized overseas, including Japan, have passed away, and as of last year, only 131 survivors remain.
Choi Yeontae, the representative of the bereaved families, said, “We hope the government will actively step in to soothe the grandmothers’ worries and wipe their tears,” adding, “The government’s preliminary compensation should be made while even one more is still alive.”
The funeral parlor is set up at Changwon Jeongdaun Nursing Hospital, and the funeral procession will be held at 7:30 a.m. on the 23rd.
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