Arab News Japan

TOKYO: The Japanese government has issued a stern rebuke after a South Korean court sided with the plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed by so-called comfort women, who, according to the plaintiffs were “forced into serving as sex slaves” for the Japanese military before and during World War II.

The court ordered Japan to pay compensation to the plaintiffs.

Foreign Minister KAMIKAWA Yoko stated: “This judgment, same as the previous one on January 8, 2021, is, clearly contrary to international law and agreements between the two countries, and therefore extremely regrettable and absolutely unacceptable.”

On Thursday, OKANO Masataka, Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, summoned Korean Ambassador Yun Dukmin and lodged a strong protest, stating that it is “extremely regrettable” that in a lawsuit filed by former comfort women and others against the Government of Japan the Seoul High Court had rendered a judgement in favor of the plaintiffs.

He said the court ruling denied the application of the principle of state immunity under international law and that the judgement was “absolutely unacceptable to the Government of Japan.”

The Japanese government says the issue concerning property and claims between Japan and the Republic of Korea, including the issue of the comfort women, was “settled completely and finally” in an agreement signed by both parties in 1965.

It added that the issue of the comfort women was “resolved finally and irreversibly” with an agreement between Japan and South Korea in 2015.

In conclusion, the Japanese government said it “strongly urges the Government of the Republic of Korea to take appropriate measures to remedy its breaches of international law.”

South Korea was colonized by Japan from 1910 to 1945 and has accused Japan of numerous human rights violations, including sex slavery and forced labor, during that period.

Japan referenced the “Agreement on the Settlement of Problem Concerning Property and Claims and on the Economic Co-operation between Japan and the Republic of Korea,” which, it says, settled all previous issues between the two countries in the colonial period.