Government Reviews Filing ICJ Case on Comfort Women Issue

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] The government has decided to consider filing a case with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) regarding the issue of Japanese military comfort women.

Choi Young-sam, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated at a regular briefing on the 16th, "We would like to hear more from the comfort women grandmothers and others," and added, "We will carefully review the issue of filing a case with the ICJ."

Comfort woman victim Grandmother Lee Yong-soo appealed at a press conference that morning, "Please accept the ICJ's judgment so that Japan realizes its wrongdoing and reflects on it."

It is considered unusual that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson officially announced at a briefing that they are considering filing a case with the ICJ. Until now, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had maintained the position that "a sincere apology from Japan must come first."

It appears that the government began reviewing the matter because Grandmother Lee Yong-soo, the party involved, mentioned filing a case with the ICJ. There is also speculation that the government judged there was no need to take a defensive stance since Korea holds an advantageous position in international public opinion regarding the comfort women issue.

If the ICJ handles the comfort women issue, international criticism toward Japan could increase. However, unlike Japan, Korea does not accept the ICJ's compulsory jurisdiction. Even if Japan files a case with the ICJ, if Korea does not respond, the trial cannot proceed. Conversely, since this applies when Korea files a case as well, Japan's consent is essential for the trial to take place.

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