Former forced laborer thanks Song Hye Kyo for turning down modeling offer from Mitsubishi Motors

It has become widely known that actress Song Hye Kyo, star of drama Descendants of the Sun, recently turned down on offer from Mitsubishi Motors as their advertising model.

On May 16th, her agency revealed that she had recently received a letter from a former forced laborer who sent her gratitude and thanks for not taking the modeling job from the Japanese company.

The letter, written by 88-year old woman Yang Geum Deok, was released by the civic group for victims who were forced to do labor during the Japanese occupation in Korea. Yang Geum Deok was forced into labor by the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries at the age of 14 with 138 other students in 1944 after being deceived by the head of her school who was Japanese. She worked for nearly 18 months without being paid before getting rescued.

Currently, Mitsubishi Motors is in the middle of a lawsuit for forcing Korean laborers to work for them during Japan’s occupation between 1910 and 1945.

The former forced laborer thanks Song Hye Kyo for the “great work that even the country’s president couldn’t have done.”

Korea Times unveils part of her letter, which reads, “Hearing the news, I shed tears. I was so happy as if a big nail wedged deep in my heart has finally been pulled out. I thank you for your courageous act and I feel that I could even fly if only I had wings. What matters to me and other survivors of forced labor is not the money. My first and foremost wish is to receive an apology from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Mitsubishi. Without it, I cannot rest in peace.”

Source: Korea Times