Japan refuses procedure to seize comfort women compensation... "The translation is incorrect"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] It has been reported that the Japanese government, which lost a damages lawsuit filed by comfort women victims, refused to accept documents for property seizure on the grounds that "the translation was incorrect."

According to the legal community on the 23rd, the Japanese Ministry of Justice did not accept related documents such as the property disclosure order and summons sent in September last year by Judge Nam Sung-woo of the Seoul Central District Court Civil Division 51 to confirm Japanese government assets subject to seizure in South Korea.

The court stated, "The documents were delivered to the Minister of Justice, but the Minister said they could not be accepted due to 'insufficient Japanese translation of part of the service documents.'" At that time, the Japanese Ministry of Justice raised an issue with the Japanese translation of 'OO-si OO-gu,' the address of one of the plaintiffs.

The court revised the translation and resent the documents in May. However, the Japanese Ministry of Justice again refused to accept the documents, this time citing that "the service of documents infringes upon Japan's sovereignty or security."

The court said, "Although the documents were served to the debtor, they were continuously returned, and there is no other way to serve them except by public notice service," and dismissed the property disclosure case on the 15th. However, it added, "In this case, the creditor can use the property inquiry system under Article 74 of the Civil Execution Act."

Earlier, 12 comfort women victims and their families, including the late Grandmother Bae Chun-hee, filed a damages lawsuit against the Japanese government and won in January last year. Since the Japanese government did not appeal, the first-instance ruling was finalized as is. Afterwards, the victims' side proceeded with the property disclosure procedure to seize the damages, but the Japanese side did not appear in court on the scheduled property disclosure date.

Under the Civil Execution Act, the property disclosure procedure cannot be conducted by public notice service, so if it is impossible to serve documents to the other party, the case is usually dismissed. At this time, the creditor can apply for a 'property inquiry' through public institutions or financial institutions to check the debtor's assets held domestically.

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