Japan denounced as “totally unacceptable” a decision by the South Korean court ordering compensation to be paid to women who were sexually enslaved by the Japanese military before and during World War II.
Seoul’s central district court said on Friday that Japan is responsible for indemnifying 12 women who were forced to work as so-called “comfort women” in a decision that is expected to inflict further damage on countries’ already strained ties.
Some historians say that some 200,000 women – mostly Korean, but also Chinese, Southeast Asians and a small number of Japanese and Europeans – were coerced or induced to work in military brothels between 1932 and Japan’s defeat in 1945.
While some survivors of sexual slavery during the war accepted “humanitarian” payments from the Japanese government, many others asked for formal compensation and an official apology.
Legal experts say Japan is unlikely to comply with the court’s decision. A women’s support group said it could take legal action to freeze Japanese government assets in South Korea if Japan refuses to compensate women.
Japan insists that all compensation claims were resolved when countries normalized diplomatic ties in 1965, adding that the issue was resolved “definitively and irreversibly” by a 2015 agreement that was canceled by Seoul.
The court ruled that each of the 12 women was entitled to 100 million won ($ 91,000), adding that the bilateral agreements cited by Japan did not impact the plaintiffs’ right to seek compensation.
“It was a systematic, deliberate and extensive crime against humanity committed by Japan, in violation of international standards,” said Judge Kim Jeong-gon.
The court said the women were the victims of sexual abuse by Japanese troops that caused bodily harm, venereal disease and unwanted pregnancies, as well as causing “major mental scars”.
“Even if it were a country’s sovereign act, state immunity cannot be applied, as it was committed against our citizens on the Korean peninsula, which was illegally occupied by Japan.”
Japan, which boycotted court proceedings, maintained sovereign immunity – a principle of international law that grants states immunity from foreign court jurisdiction – applied to the case.
Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, Katsunobu Kato, described the verdict as “regrettable” and “unacceptable, while the Foreign Ministry has summoned South Korea’s ambassador to Japan, Nam Gwan-pyo, to file a complaint.
Nam said he will endeavor to prevent the decision from having an “undesirable impact” in the bilateral sphere. “I emphasized that it was more important for both sides to respond in a calm and contained manner to resolve the issue,” he told reporters after meeting with Japan’s deputy foreign minister.
Time is running out for Japan and South Korea to resolve an issue that has hampered bilateral ties since the survivors became public more than 30 years ago. Only 16 registered Korean survivors are still alive, and seven of the 12 victims have died since the lawsuit was opened in 2013. They are now being represented by relatives.
Countries – both US allies with strong commercial and interpersonal ties – are also at odds over the compensation of wartime workers who were forced to work in Japanese mines and factories during their colonial regime of 1910-45 and rival claims to Takeshima / Dokdo Islands.
In late 2015, countries said they had “finally and irreversibly” resolved the issue of comfort women when Japan agreed to contribute 1 billion yen to a foundation to support survivors and their families, while the then prime minister, Shinzo Abe, offered his “most sincere apologies”.
But in 2018, South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in effectively canceled the deal – which had been agreed by his predecessor – saying it did not reflect the wishes of the surviving women or the strength of sentiment among the South Korean public.
The Seoul court is expected to rule next week on a similar case brought against Japan by 20 other women and their families.