© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A bouquet lays alongside a statue commemorating Korean “comfort women” at a Sydney church in Sydney, Australia December 15, 2016, a 1.5-metre statue imported from Korea which has been a flashpoint for tensions between Korean and Japanese commu
By Hyonhee Shin
SEOUL (Reuters) – A South Korean appellate court docket on Thursday ordered Japan to compensate a gaggle of 16 ladies who had been compelled to work in Japanese wartime brothels, overturning a decrease court docket ruling that dismissed the case.
The legacy of Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean peninsula stays politically delicate for either side, with many surviving “comfort women” – a Japanese euphemism for the intercourse abuse victims – nonetheless demanding Tokyo’s formal apology and compensation.
Bilateral relations between the 2 U.S. allies have been strained for years by the problems of wartime intercourse abuse and compelled labour, however South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida have sought to enhance ties.
The 16 victims filed the go well with in 2016, searching for 200 million received ($155,000) every in compensation. However the Seoul Central District Court docket dismissed the case in 2021, citing sovereign immunity, a authorized doctrine that permits a state to be exempt from a civil go well with in overseas courts.
The Seoul Excessive Court docket, nevertheless, reversed the decrease court docket’s determination, recognising the jurisdiction of South Korean courts over the Japanese authorities as a defendant.
“It is reasonable to consider that there is a common international law which does not recognise state immunity for an illegal act … regardless of whether the act was a sovereign act,” the appellate court docket stated in a press release.
The court docket additionally stated the case falls inside South Korea’s jurisdiction because the plaintiffs reside within the nation and sought compensation over the acts which are deemed “unlawful” beneath its civil regulation.
Tokyo has stated the problem was settled beneath a 1965 treaty that normalised diplomatic relations, and the 2 neighbours agreed to “irreversibly” finish the dispute in a 2015 deal.
In a press release, Japanese International Minister Yoko Kamikawa stated the judgment went towards worldwide regulation and agreements between the 2 international locations, calling it “extremely regrettable and absolutely unacceptable.”
“Japan once again strongly urges the Republic of Korea to immediately take appropriate measures to remedy the status of its breaches of international law,” she stated.
South Korea’s overseas ministry stated it was trying into particulars of the most recent ruling, with out elaborating.
Lee Yong-soo, a 95-year-old activist and sufferer who additionally filed the go well with, welcomed the choice and tearfully thanked the court docket for the choice.
“I’m grateful. I’m really grateful,” she stated as she exited the courthouse, including that she wished she was capable of share the information and gratitude with another victims who had handed away.
($1 = 1,294.3500 received)