Seoul Sex slaves from the war from South Korea, euphemistically known as ‘comfort women’, achieved their first legal victory against the Japanese government in an important ruling delivered in Seoul on Friday. The Central District Court in Seoul has ordered the Japanese government to pay 100 million won ($ 91,300) each to the families of 12 women who were forced to work as sex slaves for the Japanese army during the colonization of Japan in Korea. .
The court called on Japan to force the women – only of which five are still alive – to be sex slaves, ‘a crime against humanity’. It said the women were forced into slavery when Japan “illegally occupied” the Korean Peninsula between 1910 and 1945, arguing that the illegality of that occupation meant that Japan’s sovereign immunity could not protect it from lawsuits.
The case in which the verdict was delivered on Friday was opened in April last year. The Japanese government has never been involved, insisting that the lawsuit be dismissed on the grounds that ‘the state is immune from the jurisdiction of a foreign country’.
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Japan’s chief cabinet secretary Katsunobu Kato said on Friday that Japan would not appeal the ruling because it would place the country under South Korea’s jurisdiction.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Japan could not accept the court’s ruling, while Kato called it ‘unacceptable’ and called on Seoul to take ‘appropriate measures’ to get it fired.
Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Takeo Akiba has summoned South Korean Ambassador Nam Gwan-pyo to Tokyo to launch an “extremely strong protest”. Ambassador Nam said he would seek to prevent the ruling from having an “undesirable impact” on bilateral ties.
Even the South Korean Foreign Ministry said that although the court’s rulings were respected, “the government recognizes the formal agreement reached between the two governments in December 2015.”
The deal includes a formal apology from then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and a $ 8.3 million aid fund set up by Tokyo for the elderly former sex slave. From Japan’s perspective, the agreement drew a line under the decade-long scandal.
The fate of the “comfort women” has been a major point of friction between the two Asian countries for more than half a century.
The victims were predominantly Korean, but the Japanese army picked up sex slaves in most of the countries where they had powers during World War II. There were even British and Dutch women among them.
“We welcome the historic victory that has opened up a new horizon,” said a group of victims’ advocates in Seoul, speaking for the women who filed the lawsuit against Japan.
“Victims have repeatedly testified publicly about the damage and demanded a solution based on a victim-centered approach, but have been repeatedly ignored,” the Korean Justice and Remembrance Council said on issues of military sexual slavery by Japan.
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The group noted that only a handful of victims survived, and called on the Japanese government to comply quickly, which it said was an obligation to meet its ‘liability’ and to fully investigate the army’s actions. and learn a more accurate account of history in Japan. .
Amnesty International Korea also welcomed the court’s ruling on Friday, with director Jihyun Yoon calling it an ‘important decision’ and noting in a statement that it was’ the first time a South Korean court has taken responsibility for the Japanese government for Japanese military sexual recognition recognizes slavery and opened a way to restore justice for the survivors. ‘
Jihyun called on Japan to “follow the court’s decision and take immediate action to compensate the victims of sexual slavery” and to issue a full and comprehensive apology to the survivors.