GWANGJU -- An elderly Korean victim of Japan's wartime sexual slavery died early Wednesday, a foundation that deals with the issue said. She was 88.

The woman, identified only by her last name Kim, passed away at around 6:40 a.m., according to the foundation in Gyeonggi Province. She had been suffering from a stroke and severe dementia, it added. It declined to disclose any further details on the victim at her family's request.

Kim's death has brought the number of surviving victims down to 30. The passing of an 89-year-old victim preceded her death in January. In 2017 alone, eight Korean sexual slavery victims died, including Song Shin-do, a 95-year-old woman who lived in Japan and died in December.

Kim was taken to Japan in 1945 at the age of 16 and lived a very painful life, the foundation quoted her family as saying. After the war ended, she returned home and spent most of her days after 2012 in the shelter provided by the foundation.

Historians estimate that up to 200,000 women, mostly from Korea, were forced to work in front-line brothels for Japanese troops during wartime.(Yonhap)