Unsettled Comfort Women Issue

The Seoul High Court of the Republic of Korea on Thursday ordered Japan to pay 200 million won for each of former “comfort women” as compensation for wartime sexual slavery. Japanese government has rejected appearing in the court, raising its right called “sovereign immunity,” a concept that a state is immune from the jurisdiction of a court in another country. Showing no intention to compensate for the damage, Japanese government does not predict that the court decision will not exacerbate the bilateral relationship with ROK. However, Japan does not have any specific plan to finally settle this issue.

The sixteen victims of the wartime slavery filed the lawsuit demanding 200 million won for each in 2016. The Seoul Central District Court dismissed the case in 2021, citing sovereign immunity. But the appeal court overturned the decision, saying “According to the international common law, it is possible that sovereign immunity of the country causing the damage is denied, when the illegal activity has been exercised in the country where the court is.”

 

The Seoul Hight Court also accused Japan that it violated international treaties Japan had affiliated to at the time and Japan’s activities constituted illegal actions against Korean Civil Code. “Japan mobilized the victims, as young as teens or twenties at the time, with deceit and coercive abduction,” said the court, according to the report of Mainichi Shimbun. One of the plaintiffs, Lee Yong Soo, told the reporters after the court decision that she hoped Japanese government to sincerely apologize to the victims and abide by the court decision with compensation.

 

Minister for Foreign Affairs Yoko Kamikawa issued a statement which argued that the court decision denied the state immunity under international law. “This judgement is clearly contrary to international law and agreements between the two countries, and therefore extremely regrettable and absolutely unacceptable,” said the statement and urged ROK to “take appropriate measures to remedy the status of its breaches of international law.”

 

The government of Japan has been taking the position that the issue of comfort women was “resolved finally and irreversibly” by the agreement between the foreign ministers of both countries, Fumio Kishida and Yun Byung Se, in December 28th, 2015. The Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yohei Kono, in Kiichi Miyazaza Cabinet issued a statement in 1993, which expressed “sincere apologies and remorse,” and the government has been promoting compensative projects, including Asian Women’s Fund.

 

But some administrations were skeptical about the involvement of Japanese government in the activities of sexual slavery. Shinzo Abe administration answered to a question from a lawmaker that it could not find “any description that indicates forcible leading away” in 2007. That ambiguous attitude of Japan generated doubts in Korean society about the seriousness of Japan’s apology.

 

The statement on the judgement of Seoul High Court quotes Article 2 of Agreement on the Settlement of Problem Concerning Property and Claims and on the Economic Co-operation between Japan and the Republic of Korea in 1965, which says “The Contracting Parties confirm that problem concerning property, rights and interests of the two is settled completely and finally.” This is the reason that Japan asserts that the court decision is unacceptable.

 

However, Japan needs to focus on the fact that the agreement was about the problem “concerning property, rights and interests,” which does not necessarily mean that the issue of comfort women was finally settled. What Lee demands is not only compensation but apology. Japan may say that it has apologized for many times, but an apology means nothing as long as it is not accepted.

 

The foreign ministers’ agreement in 2015 was an agreement between two governments. Unfortunately, it was not accepted by some of the people in ROK. That was why Lee and other former comfort women filed this lawsuit after the agreement. Not only ROK government but Japanese government is responsible for getting understandings of those Korean citizens who are not satisfied with Japan’s attitude on the issue.

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