The victims sued the Japanese government in 2016 for kidnapping, sexual violence and torture during World War II. They were in their teens and early 20s during Japan’s occupation of the Korean Peninsula, and were subjected to dozens of forced sexual acts by Japanese troops every day, the judge said in the ruling Friday.
These girls and women who are forced into sexual acts of slavery are known as ‘comfort women’. The practice was approved and organized by the Japanese Imperial Army before and during World War II.
The Japanese occupation ended in 1945, but the victims suffered great psychological trauma in the years after the war, as well as ongoing social stigma, the judge said. The judge granted the full amount of $ 91,000 (100 million won) requested by the plaintiffs, adding that the damages they suffered exceeded the amount.
Japanese Prime Minister has apologized in the past, and Tokyo believed that the issue was settled in 1965 as part of an agreement to normalize relations between the two countries. But South Korea was a military dictatorship at the time, and many Koreans claimed the deal was unfair.
Another major brand in 2015 again apologized and pledged $ 8 million for a foundation to support the surviving ‘comfort women’.
Despite these existing agreements, the plaintiffs had the right to sue for damages, the judge said Friday.
In a statement after the verdict, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said that the government “respects the court ruling and will do everything in its power to restore the honor and dignity of the victims of ‘women’.”
It acknowledged the 2015 agreement between the countries and said that the government would also “review the impact of the ruling on diplomatic relations and put everything in place to continue constructive and future-oriented cooperation between Korea and Japan.”
Japanese officials have strongly criticized the ruling, with Katsunobu Kato, chief cabinet secretary, calling it “extremely deplorable” and “absolutely unacceptable”, according to a Reuters report from the press conference on Friday.
Kato added that the Japanese government was not under South Korean jurisdiction, and that the country had repeatedly called for the case to be dismissed. “We demand that South Korea, as a country, take an appropriate response to rectify this violation of international law,” he said.
Korea’s comfort women
“A large number of women victims speak of violence that family members used to prevent the abduction of their daughters and, in some cases, were raped by soldiers in front of their parents before being forcibly taken away,” the report said. .
Despite Japan’s apology and compensation, South Korean activists say the apology has not gone far enough and many are demanding further compensation.
“As a victim of great suffering in Japanese imperialism in the past, for our part, we cannot help but take Japan’s ongoing economic retaliation very seriously,” said South Korean President Moon Jae-in. , said after the retaliatory economic measures. “This is even more so because this economic retaliation is in itself unjustifiable and also has its roots in historical issues.”
The historical hostility is also felt among many citizens; more than 36,000 South Koreans signed a petition during the 2019 trade dispute calling on the government to retaliate against Tokyo. Many South Koreans have also called for a boycott of Japanese products on social media.
“The Rising Sun flag is similar to a symbol of the devil for Asians and Koreans, just as the swastika is a symbol of Nazis reminding Europeans of invasion and horror,” said An Min-suk, chairman of the parliamentary committee on sport.
But the Olympic organizers refused to ban the flag from competition venues, arguing that ‘the flag itself is not considered a political statement’.