Descendants of comfort women victims from the Japanese colonial period won a domestic damages lawsuit against the Japanese government. This is the third time a domestic court has recognized the Japanese government's responsibility to compensate comfort women victims and their descendants.
On the 25th, Judge Lee Hyo-doo of the Cheongju District Court Civil Division 7 ruled in favor of partial claims for damages filed by Lee Man-young (69), son of the late Gil Gap-soon, against the Japanese government, seeking 200 million won. The exact details of the ruling and the compensation amount have not been disclosed.
Born in 1924 in Muju, North Jeolla Province, the late Gil Gap-soon was taken to Nagasaki, Japan, as a comfort woman at the age of 17 in 1941. In her lifetime, she participated in activities with the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan (also known as JeongDaehyup, the predecessor of the Justice Memory Solidarity), testifying about her victimization and demanding accountability from the Japanese government.
Gil testified, "I was tortured by being burned with a heated iron after refusing to sleep with the Japanese army."
Gil passed away from acute lung cancer at the age of 74 in 1998.
The ruling on this lawsuit, filed in January of last year, came after the second hearing. Lawyer Hong Seong-ho noted, "The Japanese government did not attend the trial until the day the verdict was announced and initially refused to accept the delivery of the complaint, which delayed proceedings."
The Japanese government has refrained from responding to lawsuits filed by comfort women victims based on the principle of 'state immunity' in international customary law, which asserts that a sovereign state does not stand before the courts of another country.
Meanwhile, this is not the first time a domestic court has recognized the Japanese government's liability for damages to comfort women victims or their descendants. Previously, the Seoul High Court overturned a first instance ruling that dismissed the lawsuit filed by 16 individuals, including the late Lee Yong-soo and the descendants of the late Kwak Ye-nam and Kim Bok-dong, reasoning that the principle of state immunity did not apply, and ordered the Japanese government to pay 200 million won each.
In 2021, the Seoul Central District Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in a damages lawsuit filed by 12 comfort women victims, including the late Bae Chun-hee, ordering payment of 100 million won each, on similar grounds.
Regarding this ruling, the Japanese government held a press conference and stated, "It is very regrettable and absolutely unacceptable as it clearly contradicts international law and agreements between Japan and South Korea." They also summoned the South Korean ambassador to Japan to strongly protest the ruling.