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S. Korea to raise subsidy to "comfort women" by 21 pct in 2016

Xinhua, December 22, 2015 Adjust font size:

South Korea said on Tuesday that it will raise subsidy by 21 percent from next year to 46 living victims of Japan's wartime sex slavery during World War II.

Government handout to support living expenses of the victims will increase to 1,260,000 won (1,071 U.S. dollars) per month in 2016 from 1,043,000 won in 2015, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.

The subsidy which has grown about 3 percent per year for living costs began to be provided from 1993 for the "comfort women," or a euphemism for Korean women forced into sex slavery for the Imperial Japan's military brothels during the devastating war.

"The decision to sharply increase support comes as the average age of the victims has reached 89.2 years, and most are economically constrained," the ministry said.

In addition to this support, the government will give each survivor some 1.05 million won per month to hire a caregiver or nurse to look after them. This is up 39.4 percent compared to 757,000 won per month in 2015.

The ministry said this should be enough to employ a caregiver throughout the year.

South Korean historians estimate that more than 200,000 women, mostly from the Korean peninsula, were forced to serve as sex slaves during World War II. Among 238 South Koreans who identified themselves as former sex slaves, only 46 are alive. Enditem