Last Thursday, the Seoul High Court made a pivotal decision, ordering the Japanese government to compensate each of the former “comfort women” who first filed a lawsuit in the Seoul Central District Court in 2016, a development reported by South Korean news source KBS. This decision contravenes a previous ruling from April 2021, awarding each of the 16 victims 200 million won (about 154,000 USD). You can delve into this development further by reading the court’s
decision or the April 2021 decision.
According to KBS, the appeal hails from a group of 16 victims, of which the majority were represented by next of kin. Very notably represented among them was 95-year old Lee Yong-soo, the only living victim of this group. The victims served as “comfort women” during the lead up and course of WWII, a form of sexual slavery powered by brothels established by the Japanese military. The initial claims of these plaintiffs were first dismissed by the Seoul Central District Court in April 2021, on the grounds of sovereign immunity principle upheld under customary international law. This principle insulates a country’s sovereign actions from court trials instigated by other countries. More information pertaining to the principle of sovereign immunity can be found in this
Oxford Bibliographies article.
Disagreeing with the lower court’s stance, the Seoul High Court rejected the applicability of the rule. The appellate court found the forced sexual slavery enforced by the Japanese military in breach of international treaties Japan was a signatory to at the time, as well as Japanese criminal law. The Yonhap news agency in South Korea reported the court’s position that the Japanese government was “engaged in illegal acts in the process of mobilizing comfort women and suitable compensation should be given.” Accordingly, the court ruled in favor of the victims, instructing the Japanese government to pay each individual 200 million won.
Reacting to the Seoul High Court’s ruling, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa described it as “contrary to international law and agreements between the two countries” and therefore, “extremely regrettable and unacceptable” in a
statement made on Thursday. She also called on South Korea to take remedial actions for its contraventions. Additionally, Japanese Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Okano Masataka lodged a strong protest the same day by summoning South Korean Ambassador Yun Dukmin.
More details can be found in the Agreement on the Settlement of Problem concerning Property and Claims and on the Economic Co-operation between Japan and the Republic of Korea of 1965 and the agreement between Japan and the Republic of Korea in 2015.
The phrase “comfort women” is used to refer to the victims of forced sexual slavery inflicted by Japan before and during the period of WWII. Hundreds of thousands of young girls and women from various Asian countries were abducted and coerced into laboring in brothels operated by the Japanese military. At the time of writing, there are only nine known survivors in South Korea following the recent death of a 91-year-old victim on May 2, 2023. More on this can be found
here and also here.
The Japanese government, while rejecting participation in any proceedings linked to the issue in South Korean courts, insists that the “comfort women” issue has been settled fully via bilateral agreements from 1965 and 2015. Furthermore, Japan has made strides to address the issue, for instance, setting up the
Asian Women’s Fund back in 1995 as part of its “atonement efforts that offered compensation to victims within other Asian nations, including South Korea. Similarly, a chain of Japanese Prime Ministers have issued letters expressing their “apology and remorse.” Japan recommends the dismissal of such lawsuits citing the principle of sovereign immunity.
In January 2021, the Seoul Central District Court upheld the claims for damages made by another group of former “comfort women.” When the plaintiffs tried to enforce that decision, the court rejected the seizure of assets held by the Japanese government on South Korean soil to avoid infringing international law. The same outcome could possibly occur in respect to the latest case.