Number of surviving victims of Japan's forced labor falls below 700

Thousands, possibly millions, of Koreans were victimized by Japan's forced labor during its 1910-1945 colonization of the Korean Peninsula, but recent government data showed that most of them have passed away due to old age.

According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, 640 victims of Japan's forced labor —574 men and 66 women — had received subsidies from the government as of Jan. 1, 2025. The government has been paying 800,000 won ($550) a year to each victim for medical fees since 2008. The number of surviving victims is estimated by the number of benefits recipients.

The government tally shows that the number of surviving victims of forced labor has dropped drastically in recent years. It dipped below the 10,000 mark in 2015 to 9,938, then to 3,140 in 2020, then to 904 in 2024.

The youngest victim is 86 years old and the oldest is 109; 172 of the victims are aged 100 or above.

It is unclear how many were victimized during the Japanese occupation of Korea. A total of 480,693 are registered by the National Archive as the victims, based on the documents the Japanese government handed over to Seoul between 1971 and 1993.

But the South Korean government estimated in 1965 that 1.03 million Koreans were forcibly mobilized as workers and soldiers by Japan during World War II. Other studies — including one by the state-backed commissioned in 2010-2013 — suggested the actual figure may be as high as 7.55 million.

Victims of forced labor, and the Japanese military's sex slavery of Asian women, have been demanding an official apology from the Tokyo government. But nearly eight decades after the war and with few victims still alive, time is running out for the victims to get their long-awaited apology.

Gil Won-ok, one of the victims of Japan's wartime sex slavery euphemistically called comfort women, passed away on Feb. 16 at the age of 97. A total of 243 women have been registered as official victims of Japan's sexual slavery, but only seven of them are still alive.

The surviving victims are aged 95.7 on average.

As in the case of the forced labor victims, the actual number of former comfort women is presumed to be much greater than registered by the government — ranging between as many as 20,000 to over 200,000.

Gil had actively attempted to raise awareness of the comfort women issue since being registered as an official victim back in 1998. She testified her case to international bodies like the UN Human Rights Council and the International Labor Organization, and spoke in multiple countries.

"(Gil) was a great person who publicly spoke about her life and overcame her wounds, so that there will never be another atrocity like this," said Rev. Jeong Seok-won, a Christian pastor who conducted Gil's funeral.

The bereaved family of Gil on Monday donated 10 million won to the women's rights facilities of the Incheon Metropolitan Government, saying it would be the best way to respect the wishes of the deceased.

The city said the money will be used for the healing program for victims of sexual violence. "Providing a healing space for the sexual violence victims would be the way to remember and carry on her noble will and spirit," Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok said.