From Le Figaro with AFP
Published 1 hour ago, updated 53 minutes ago
Lee Young-soo, 95, a victim of forced sexual slavery in Japan during World War II, receives flowers following the Korean court’s decision on Thursday, November 23. YONHAP / AFP
Around 200,000 women, mostly from Korea but also from other parts of Asia, were forced to become sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during World War II. Tokyo has consistently refused to appear in South Korean courts.
A South Korean court on Thursday (Nov. 23) ordered Japan to compensate 16 women victims of sexual slavery during World War II, overturning a lower court decision that had dismissed them two years earlier.
In 2021, this first civil case against Tokyo was brought to court in South Korea by those euphemistically called “comfort women,” people forced into slavery in the Imperial Army’s brothels during the global conflict.
141,000 euros in damage
A court in Seoul’s central district then emphasized Tokyo’s “sovereign immunity” to release these women on April 21, 2021, and also held that accepting the victims’ requests could trigger a diplomatic incident. But the Seoul High Court ruled on Thursday that it was “reasonable to say that the state’s immunity should not be respected in cases of illegal conduct,” according to a court document seen by AFP.
She ordered the payment of around 200 million won (around 141,000 euros) each to the plaintiffs. The court said the victims had been “abducted by force or seduced into sexual slavery” and ruled that they had suffered “damage” as a result and were “unable to lead a normal life after the war”. Lee Young-soo, one of the 16 plaintiffs, now 95, raised her arms to the sky in joy as she left the court and told reporters: “I am very grateful (…).” I thank them Victims who died.”
Tokyo denies responsibility
According to historians, up to 200,000 women, mostly from Korea but also from other parts of Asia including China, were forced to become sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during World War II. The issue has long strained bilateral relations between Seoul and Tokyo, which colonized the Korean peninsula between 1910 and 1945. The move comes as President Yoon Suk Yeol’s conservative South Korean government seeks to bury the historic hatchet and thus strengthen ties with Tokyo, allowing the two countries to jointly confront a North Korea whose military threats are increasing.
The Japanese government denies direct responsibility for the wartime abuses, saying the victims were recruited from civilians and that military brothels were commercially exploited. Tokyo has consistently refused to appear in South Korean courts, saying the dispute was settled by the 1965 treaty providing for the payment of reparations.
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