Japan Comfort Women Lawsuit... Our Court Ruled in Grandmothers' Favor (2nd Report)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Our court has ruled in favor of the grandmothers who were victims of the Japanese military's comfort women system in a lawsuit seeking damages against the Japanese government.

The Seoul Central District Court Civil Division 34 (Presiding Judge Jeonggon Kim) on the morning of the 8th ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in the damages claim lawsuit filed by 12 grandmothers, including the late Chunhee Bae, who were victims of the comfort women system, against the Japanese government. This is the verdict five years after the case was formally referred to trial in January 2016. The court stated, "Due to the Japanese government's inhumane acts, the plaintiffs suffered unimaginable extreme pain," and ordered "the defendant Japanese government to pay 100 million won per person to the plaintiffs."

This verdict came five years after the lawsuit was filed and eight years after the mediation request. The lawsuit began in August 2013 when the comfort women victims filed a civil mediation application against the Japanese government demanding compensation of 100 million won per person, totaling 1.2 billion won. However, the Japanese government refused mediation, and in October 2015, the grandmothers' side requested the case be referred to a formal trial. The court accepted this request, and the case was formally referred to trial in January.

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