At the 2015 Comfort Women Agreement, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Denied Request to Disclose 'Yoon Mi-hyang Interview Records' (Comprehensive)

by Lim Chulyoung

Published 11 Jun.2020 15:15(KST)

Ministry of Foreign Affairs judges "Significant risk of seriously harming national interests if disclosed"
Hanbyun states "Serious infringement of constitutional right to know... Will file cancellation lawsuit"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has decided not to disclose records of a meeting with Yoon Mi-hyang, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea and former executive representative of the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan (Jeongdae-hyeop), during the 2015 agreement with Japan on comfort women. In response, the 'Lawyers for Human Rights and Unification of Korea (Hanbyeon),' which requested the disclosure of the meeting materials, stated that this seriously infringes on the right to know and announced plans to file a cancellation lawsuit.

On the 11th, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs notified Hanbyeon, which requested the disclosure of meeting materials from the comfort women agreement, of its decision to withhold the materials. 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 vital interests of the state concerning national security, defense, unification, or diplomatic relations. Ministry spokesperson Kim In-cheol explained at a regular briefing, "We notified Hanbyeon that the decision to withhold the information was made in accordance with the Act on Disclosure of Information by Public Agencies."

Previously, the conservative-leaning group Hanbyeon officially requested the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to disclose the meeting records to verify whether Representative Yoon was aware of the contents of the 2015 Korea-Japan comfort women agreement in advance. However, the ministry reportedly decided to withhold the records, considering that disclosure could negatively impact Korea-Japan relations and that the meeting was conducted on the premise of confidentiality.

In response, Hanbyeon announced plans to file a cancellation lawsuit against the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' decision to withhold the information. Hanbyeon stated, "The 2015 Korea-Japan comfort women agreement is unlikely to be considered information subject to non-disclosure under the Act on Disclosure of Information by Public Agencies," and added, "Moreover, it is obvious that the meeting contents between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the civic group Jeongdae-hyeop or Justice and Memory (Jeong-ui-yeon) cannot be classified as non-disclosable information, as this was not an intergovernmental consultation."

Grandmother Lee Yong-soo, a victim of the Japanese military comfort women system, claimed during a press conference on May 7 that "Jeongdae-hyeop exploited us for 30 years, and only Yoon Mi-hyang knew about the 1 billion yen coming from Japan during the 2015 Korea-Japan agreement." The core of the 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.

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