Court Orders Japan to Submit List of Assets in Korea by March Next Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The court has ordered the Japanese government, which lost the 'comfort women victim compensation lawsuit,' to submit a list of its assets in South Korea to the court by March next year.

According to the legal community on the 1st, Judge Nam Seong-woo of the Civil Division 51 at the Seoul Central District Court set the asset disclosure date for 10 a.m. on March 21 next year. Asset disclosure is a compulsory execution procedure to identify assets that can actually be seized.

Earlier, 12 comfort women victims filed a lawsuit against the Japanese government, demanding compensation of 100 million won per person for damages caused by illegal acts, and won the case on January 8 this year. Japan invoked the principle of 'state immunity' (sovereign immunity), which exempts a sovereign state from the jurisdiction of another country's courts, and did not respond to the lawsuit. Japan also did not appeal the first-instance ruling, confirming its loss.

Due to the Japanese government's non-response, the victims filed a petition with the court in April requesting the disclosure of the Japanese government's assets in South Korea to forcibly collect the compensation. The court accepted the asset disclosure petition in June, stating, "The debtor must submit a list of assets specifying the asset status on the asset disclosure date."

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