Ministry of Foreign Affairs Keeps 'Yoon Mi-hyang Meeting Records' from Japan-South Korea Comfort Women Agreement Confidential... Hanbyun to File Lawsuit to Cancel Non-Disclosure Decision

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Judges Disclosure Could Seriously Harm National Interests
Hanbyun: "Serious Violation of Constitutional Right to Know"

Yoon Mi-hyang, a Democratic Party of Korea elected member, who has been suspected of accounting fraud related to the Justice Memory Solidarity, is holding a press conference to explain the situation on the 29th at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has decided not to disclose records of a meeting with Representative Yoon Mee-hyang, who was the standing representative of the Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, during the 2015 agreement with Japan on comfort women.

On the 11th, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs notified the 'Lawyers for Human Rights and Unification of Korea (Hanbyun)'?which had requested the disclosure of meeting materials from the comfort women agreement period?that the materials would not be disclosed. The Ministry stated that this decision was made pursuant to Article 9, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 2 of the Act on Disclosure of Information by Public Agencies.

The provision applied by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Article 9, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 2 of the Act on Disclosure of Information by Public Agencies, stipulates that information may not be disclosed if it is recognized that disclosure could significantly harm the important interests of the state concerning national security, defense, unification, or diplomatic relations.

Previously, the conservative group Hanbyun officially requested the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to disclose the meeting records to verify whether Representative Yoon Mee-hyang was aware of the contents of the 2015 Korea-Japan comfort women agreement in advance.

In response, Hanbyun announced its intention to file an administrative lawsuit to cancel the Ministry's non-disclosure decision. Hanbyun stated, "The 2015 Korea-Japan comfort women agreement is difficult to consider as information subject to non-disclosure under the Act on Disclosure of Information by Public Agencies. Moreover, it is obvious that the content of meetings between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and civic groups such as Jeongdaehyeop or Jeonguiyeon, which are not intergovernmental consultations, cannot be considered information subject to non-disclosure."

Grandmother Lee Yong-soo, a victim of the Japanese military's comfort women system, claimed during a press conference on May 7 that the Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan (Jeongdaehyeop, the predecessor of Jeonguiyeon) "was exploited for 30 years, and only Yoon Mee-hyang knew about the 1 billion yen coming from Japan during the 2015 Korea-Japan agreement." The core of her claim is that former Representative Yoon did not inform the victims despite receiving prior explanations from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the main contents of the 2015 Korea-Japan comfort women agreement.

Hanbyun stated, "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs' decision to withhold information related to the '2015 Yoon Mee-hyang meeting' seriously infringes on the constitutional right of the people to know and amplifies suspicions. Therefore, Hanbyun will immediately file an administrative lawsuit under Article 20 of the Information Disclosure Act to seek cancellation of this non-disclosure decision."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

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