Prime Minister Kim Holds Private Meeting with Grandmother Lee Yong-soo Today... Likely to Request Referral to UN Advisory Committee on Prevention of Torture

Grandmother Lee Yong-soo [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Son Seon-hee] Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum will meet with grandmother Lee Yong-soo, a victim of the Japanese military sexual slavery, on the 1st.

According to the Office for Government Policy Coordination, Prime Minister Kim is scheduled to have a private meeting with grandmother Lee at the Government Seoul Office around 4 p.m. on the same day. This meeting is known to have been arranged at the request of grandmother Lee's side.

Grandmother Lee is expected to ask Prime Minister Kim to refer the comfort women issue to the Committee Against Torture (CAT), a body that oversees the implementation of the UN Convention Against Torture. She held a press conference on the 26th of last month urging this, and reportedly made the same appeal when she met with First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-geun on the 29th of last month.

Grandmother Lee currently serves as the representative of the 'Committee for the Promotion of Referral of the Japanese Military Comfort Women Issue to the International Court of Justice (ICJ)'. To have the comfort women issue addressed at the ICJ, consent from both South Korea and Japan is required, but referring it to the CAT is possible without Japan's consent.

Through Prime Minister Kim, grandmother Lee also plans to request meetings with President Moon Jae-in and Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong. It is also reported that she is pursuing meetings with presidential candidates from both ruling and opposition parties, including Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party and Yoon Seok-youl of the People Power Party.

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