"14-Year-Old Child's Life Until Becoming an Elder" Grandmother Lee Yong-soo's 'Anguish'

Last Hearing on the 11th for Damage Compensation Lawsuit Against Japanese Government
Appeal to the Court: "We Trusted Only the Judge and the Law and Waited"

Grandmother Lee Yong-soo, a victim of the Japanese military sexual slavery, is seen answering reporters' questions as she leaves the courtroom after testifying as a witness at the final hearing of the lawsuit seeking damages against the Japanese government at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 11th.
Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgi Kim] Grandmother Lee Yong-soo (92), a victim of Japanese military sexual slavery, urged the court for a swift ruling and the Japanese government to apologize during the final hearing of her damages lawsuit against Japan.

On the 11th, Grandmother Lee attended the last oral argument session of the damages claim lawsuit filed by comfort women victims and their families against the Japanese government, held at the Seoul Central District Court Civil Division 15 (Presiding Judge Min Sung-cheol).

When the court asked, "What would you like to say for the last time?" she appealed, "I filed the lawsuit four years ago, but what has been done? Why is this not being resolved? I was taken as a 14-year-old child from Joseon and have come here as an elderly person of the Republic of Korea."

She added tearfully, "I have trusted only the judges and the law and waited. I don’t have much time left. Does time wait? Does the sun wait? Do I have to plead in front of the judges even though I am over 90 years old?"

That day, Grandmother Lee gave a detailed testimony about her experiences at a Taiwanese comfort station. She said, "When I first arrived, an older sister said, 'You are too young. I will protect you,' and hid me in the attic, but the soldiers found her, stabbed her with a knife, and took her away."

She continued, "They dragged me by my hair into a room where the door was covered with a blanket and kicked me hard. I begged for forgiveness, but they twisted my hand again. I remember calling out 'Mother.' That sound still echoes in my head, and when I think about it, it hurts. I live taking sedatives."

In particular, Grandmother Lee emphasized her opposition to the 2015 agreement between the Park Geun-hye administration and the Japanese government regarding the comfort women issue, saying, "I have been called a 'comfort woman' for 30 years, but I am not a comfort woman." She expressed her outrage, saying, "It was absurd and frustrating, and I cried alone. They treated it like a joke on their own terms, and they even received 1 billion yen. Why did they accept it again?"

Meanwhile, with the conclusion procedure on that day, the four-year-long lawsuit process came to an end.

Grandmother Lee and 20 other victims and family members filed the lawsuit in December 2016, demanding "200 million won per person in compensation" from Japan.

However, the trial was delayed as the Japanese government did not accept the service of the complaint, and when the court confirmed public notice service, Japan claimed dismissal of the case based on the principle of "sovereign immunity."

Sovereign immunity is the principle that exempts one state from legal responsibility under the jurisdiction of another state's courts.

The court held the first oral argument on November 13 last year. Prior to that, one plaintiff withdrew the lawsuit in January 2017, and some elderly victims passed away. The court set January 13 next year as the date for the verdict.

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