{"id":2202859,"date":"2023-11-24T08:00:22","date_gmt":"2023-11-23T23:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/?p=2202859"},"modified":"2023-11-23T16:34:44","modified_gmt":"2023-11-23T07:34:44","slug":"south-korean-court-orders-japan-to-compensate-wartime-slavery-victims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2023\/11\/south-korean-court-orders-japan-to-compensate-wartime-slavery-victims\/","title":{"rendered":"South Korean court orders Japan to compensate wartime slavery victims"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Seoul High Court on Thursday <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yna.co.kr\/view\/AKR20231123079752004?section=news\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">overturned<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> a 2021 decision by the Seoul Central District Court, which had <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/china\/skorea-court-dismisses-comfort-women-lawsuit-contradicts-earlier-ruling-2021-04-21\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">dismissed<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> a damages lawsuit filed by victims of Japan\u2019s wartime sexual slavery, citing sovereign immunity. The appellate court ordered Japan to compensate each victim more than $150,000 (200 million won). The victims, often referred to as \u201ccomfort women,\u201d had initially filed the lawsuit in 2016.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The appellate court stated that it is reasonable to recognize the jurisdiction of South Korean courts over the defendant Japanese government under customary international law. The court recognized the illegal acts committed by Japan in the mobilization of comfort women and affirmed the need for appropriate compensation. This follows a separate ruling in January, where another court ordered Japan to pay $77,000 (100 million won) each to a different group of 12 victims in a decision rejecting Japan\u2019s sovereign immunity defense for crimes against humanity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Why It Matters<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Seoul High Court\u2019s ruling on Thursday ordering Japan to compensate wartime sexual slavery victims sharply contrasts with President Yoon Suk-yeol\u2019s previous positions on similar issues. Earlier this year, Yoon\u2019s diplomatic outreach to Japan, which only addressed forced wartime laborers, conspicuously excluded the issue of \u201ccomfort women.\u201d Yoon <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2023\/03\/why-the-rok-japan-deal-on-forced-labor-will-be-hard-for-opponents-to-overturn\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">proposed<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> creating a foundation funded by \u201cvoluntary\u201d contributions from South Korean companies like POSCO, which benefited from the 1965 normalization of South Korea-Japan relations. This <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2023\/03\/south-korea-and-japan-agree-to-create-fund-to-resolve-wartime-forced-labor-issue\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">fund<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, also involving the Federation of Korean Industries and the Japan Business Federation, was intended to compensate the laborers, thereby absolving Japan of direct responsibility. However, the court\u2019s decision challenges this approach by holding the Japanese government directly accountable.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This verdict could strain the recently <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2023\/06\/japan-lifts-export-controls-on-south-korea-revives-white-list-status\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">improving<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Seoul-Tokyo relations. The rapid improvement of diplomatic and trade ties might encounter difficulties, particularly with regional security threats highlighted by North Korea\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2023\/11\/how-suspending-the-inter-korean-military-deal-will-shape-south-korean-policy\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">spy satellite launch<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Tokyo\u2019s likely rejection of the Seoul High Court\u2019s ruling may stir up anti-Japanese sentiments in South Korea. While Yoon\u2019s approval ratings <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2023\/04\/yoons-approval-ratings-hold-steady-despite-controversy-over-japan-remarks\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">remained stable<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in April when he expressed his disagreement with the idea that Japan should be compelled to seek forgiveness for historical events from a century ago, the upcoming parliamentary elections and his <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gallup.co.kr\/gallupdb\/reportContent.asp?seqNo=1431\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">low approval ratings<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> could alter Yoon\u2019s strategy. Yoon\u2019s response to the ruling will be critical in influencing the trajectory of Seoul-Tokyo relations.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"content-tags\"><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/tag\/culture-society\/\"><span class=\"tag\">Culture &amp; Society<\/span><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/tag\/domestic-politics\/\"><span class=\"tag\">Domestic Politics<\/span><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/tag\/inter-korean-foreign-relations\/\"><span class=\"tag\">Inter-Korean &amp; Foreign Relations<\/span><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Seoul High Court on Thursday overturned a 2021 decision by the Seoul Central District Court, which had dismissed a damages lawsuit filed by victims of Japan\u2019s wartime sexual slavery, citing sovereign immunity. The appellate court ordered Japan to compensate each victim more than $150,000 (200 million won). The victims, often referred to as \u201ccomfort [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10407,"featured_media":2202860,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[25,27,28],"class_list":["post-2202859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-briefings","tag-culture-society","tag-domestic-politics","tag-inter-korean-foreign-relations"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>South Korean court orders Japan to compensate wartime slavery victims - KOREA PRO<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2023\/11\/south-korean-court-orders-japan-to-compensate-wartime-slavery-victims\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"South Korean court orders Japan to compensate wartime slavery victims - KOREA PRO\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Seoul High Court on Thursday overturned a 2021 decision by the Seoul Central District Court, which had dismissed a damages lawsuit filed by victims of Japan\u2019s wartime sexual slavery, citing sovereign immunity. The appellate court ordered Japan to compensate each victim more than $150,000 (200 million won). 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