Concerns Over 'Yoon Mi-hyang Allegations' Watched by Japan, Potential Negative Impact on Comfort Women Lawsuits

Two lawsuits by grandmothers underway, Japan denies the lawsuits themselves
Possibility of mentioning Yoon's suspicions grows... Legal circles say "Significant impact if facts confirmed"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The 'Yoon Mi-hyang and Justice Memory Solidarity incident' is not only weakening the momentum of the comfort women movement and lowering the credibility of domestic civic groups, but is also pointed out to potentially act as a disadvantageous factor in various lawsuits against Japan.

Kim Kang-won, a lawyer representing the comfort women grandmothers in lawsuits against the Japanese government, said in a phone interview with the reporter, "Assuming that the various suspicions against (Democratic Party lawmaker) Yoon Mi-hyang are proven to be facts, it could significantly affect the comfort women lawsuits." A lawyer from Seocho-dong who requested anonymity also predicted, "The suspicions against Representative Yoon could give Japan a justification to refuse the lawsuits themselves, making the possibility of compensation uncertain." From this perspective, law firms involved in the comfort women lawsuits are reportedly closely monitoring the prosecution's investigation into Yoon's case.

In fact, Representative Yoon and Justice Memory Solidarity have supported comfort women victims' lawsuits for the past 30 years. They have actively represented the victims and their families when unfavorable rulings were issued. Even if Yoon or Justice Memory Solidarity are not the plaintiffs in the lawsuits, it is difficult to discuss the comfort women lawsuit issues without them. However, as questions about the legality of the organization's operations have been raised recently due to poor accounting and internal whistleblowing, there is now room for the Japanese side to cleverly exploit this point. For example, legal experts speculate that Japan might refuse compensation by arguing that "an illegitimate organization encouraged the grandmothers to file lawsuits." The Japanese Sankei Shimbun also reported on the 31st of last month that "the Liberal Democratic Party is closely watching the suspicions against Justice Memory Solidarity and Representative Yoon," noting that "this is related to the 2015 Korea-Japan comfort women agreement and could affect bilateral relations."

Domestically, two lawsuits are underway by comfort women grandmothers against Japan, but the Japanese government refuses to accept documents and does not appear in court. Japan argues that under the 2015 Korea-Japan comfort women agreement, the victims' right to claim damages has already disappeared and that the lawsuits violate the international law principle of 'sovereign immunity.' Sovereign immunity is the principle that 'a court of one country cannot try another country as a defendant.'

Meanwhile, since the 2015 Korea-Japan comfort women agreement, surviving victims and their families have no longer received diplomatic protection from their government, and in 2016 they filed damage claims against Japan, with trials ongoing. A case where 12 grandmothers from Nanum House applied for damage compensation mediation against Japan but was referred to a formal trial after mediation failed in 2016 is also being heard at the Seoul Central District Court. The next hearing dates for the two trials are scheduled for the 17th and 22nd of next month, respectively.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.