( CNN ) -- Another voice that could have told about the horrors of being a `` comfort woman '' -- a sex slave used by Japanese soldiers during World War II -- has fallen silent , according to South Korean authorities . Hwang Keum-ja , 89 , died of lung and respiratory disease at a hospital in Seoul Sunday . Cho Yoon-sun , South Korea 's Minister of Gender and Equality and Family , said she had been attempting to meet each of her country 's surviving comfort women individually , but had not yet visited Hwang . `` My heart is aching as she died before I was able to meet her , '' she said in a statement , praising Hwang for her efforts to support others despite the hardships she faced , and vowing that her government would deliver greater support to other comfort women . Japan forced about 200,000 women into sex slavery , luring them to `` comfort stations '' set up throughout East Asia by the Japanese military from 1932 until the end of the war , according to nonprofit advocacy group Washington Coalition for Comfort Women Issues . Mostly Korean , the women were lied to and told they would get jobs if they went to the brothels , the center says . CNN has widely reported on the stories of the women . Many have said they were kidnapped . For resisting sex , some say , they were raped and beaten . Hwang Keum-ja was forced to work at a glass factory at 13 and then sent to China to work as a sex slave at 16 , South Korea 's state news agency Yonhap reported . After Korea was freed from Japanese occupation in 1945 , she went home and lived the rest of her life alone , the agency said . She worked as a garbage collector , but did n't make enough , so she had to rely on government subsidies . It 's unclear how , but she was able to make three donations to a scholarship fund totaling more than $ 92,000 , which helped earn her an award for her generosity in 2011 in Korea , Yonhap said . Hwang 's dying wish was that all her assets be donated to charity . She had one adopted son , according to the ministry . The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs states : `` Japan has extended its sincere apologies and remorse to all those women on various occasions such as an apology statement by the Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono in 1993 . '' The country has helped establish the Asian Women 's Fund in 1995 , which is supported by government funds and provides assistance to former comfort women . The South Korean government however does not believe this is enough . Along with the surviving comfort women it is calling for an official government apology , acknowledging legal responsibility for the crimes . Seoul wants Tokyo to provide direct compensation to the victims . But Japan has resisted direct payments to the victims , prompting activists and former comfort women to say leaders are avoiding officially acknowledging what happened . In 2013 , the mayor of Osaka , Japan , stirred fierce controversy when he told reporters that `` anyone would understand '' the role of `` comfort women '' when soldiers were risking their lives and deserved a `` rest . '' Toru Hashimoto said the use of the women was `` necessary . '' Though he acknowledged the issue was a `` tragic result of war , '' Hashimoto insisted that soldiers using the women was n't unique to Japan . Hashimoto also revealed that he told a U.S. military commander during a trip to a base on the island of Okinawa that U.S. personnel should `` utilize more '' the adult entertainment business in Japan . South Korea has urged Japan to resolve the issue directly with victims , noting that time is running out because most of them are elderly and dying . Hwang 's death brings the total number of living South Korean victims of the comfort women sex slavery circuit in South Korea down to 55 , 5 of whom live abroad . CNN 's KJ Kwon contributed to this report .
Hwang Keum-ja died in South Korea , one of the dwindling number of `` comfort women '' Japan forced 200,000 women into sex slavery to service WWII Japanese soldiers . Japan has formally apologized for atrocities against `` comfort women ''