California to honor advocate for victims of 'sexual slavery' during World War II, who died this week at age 93
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FILE: Kim Bok-Dong sits next to the "Comfort Women" Peace Monument in Glendale, Calif., July 30th, 2013. (Korean American Forum of California)
A South Korean "comfort woman," who was forced as a girl into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War II, will be remembered Sunday at two California locations of the "Comfort Women" Peace Monument, following her death Monday in Seoul.
Kim Bok-dong died of cancer at age 93. She was one of nearly 200,000 women and girls who were victims of front-line brothels during the war. A Sunday ceremony will be held in Glendale, Calif., about 8 miles northeast of Koreatown in Los Angeles, where Kim helped build the peace memorial featuring a "comfort woman" statue. The bronze statue of a girl sitting down with fists clenched represents the sexual slavery victims. The "Comfort Women" Justice Coalition will also hold a vigil Sunday at the peace monument in San Francisco's St. Mary's Square Annex.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Korean American Forum of California (KAFC) is an advocacy group that works to bring justice for the "comfort women." It also helped bring Kim to Glendale in 2012 and 2013, and took part in the installment of the Glendale monument.
"We are deeply saddened by this news because so many of us - including the members of the Glendale City Council - remember her powerful presence and testimony, as well as her unbelievable courage and determination to educate the next generation about the atrocity she endured so that it is never repeated," the KAFC said, adding that the Sunday service will be open to the public.
Kim was one of the first victims to speak out and break decades of silence over Japan's wartime sexual slavery. She had also been a vocal leader at the rallies held every Wednesday in Seoul for nearly 30 years.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Participants pay a silent tribute to Kim Bok-dong, one of many former South Korean sex slaves for the Japanese military during World War II, near the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, Jan. 30, 2019. (Associated Press)
On Wednesday, hundreds of protesters mourned Kim's death and demanded reparations from Tokyo over the wartime atrocities. Many of them held signboards with Kim's photos and words including, "We will never forget the life of Kim Bok-dong" and "Japanese government, apologize!"
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South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who visited an altar set up for Kim at a Seoul hospital on Tuesday, said in a statement that Kim devoted her life to "restoring human dignity" and that her campaigning gave South Koreans a "braveness to face the truth."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.