SOUTH KOREA has urged Japan to show sincere efforts to heal the wounds of its wartime sexual slavery victims after the Japanese Foreign Minister decried the recent Seoul court ruling on the issue that was finalised Saturday.
South Korea's Foreign Ministry said as the ruling was confirmed yesterday with Japan not appealing, Seoul will not seek any additional claims at the government level but noted that it has no authority to stop the victims from raising the issue.
Earlier this month, the Seoul Central District Court ordered Tokyo to make reparations of 100 million won (US$91,300) each to 12 "comfort women" who were forced to work in front-line military brothels for Japanese soldiers during World War II.
"Our government will continue efforts to resolve the issue based on consultations with the victims, but Japan too will have to show sincere efforts to restore the honour and dignity of the victims and heal their wounds in the heart, based on the spirit of responsibility, apology and remorse it has expressed earlier," the ministry said.
According to a Yonhap news report, the ministry's statement came hours after Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi called the court decision "extremely regrettable and absolutely unacceptable," citing international law and earlier agreements between the two countries.
"Japan once again strongly urges the Republic of Korea to immediately take appropriate measures to remedy the status of its breaches of international law on its own responsibility as a country," Motegi said in the statement.
Tokyo has maintained that the case should be dropped based on state immunity, a legal doctrine that allows a state to be immune from civil suits in foreign courts.
But the Seoul court dismissed the claim, saying it should not apply to "systematic crimes against humanity" and war crimes.
The rise in tensions between the two countries came as Seoul seeks to mend relations with Tokyo.
According to Kyodo News, Japan also asserts the ruling goes against a bilateral agreement that settled all claims related to Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula and a 2015 agreement the two governments struck to "finally and irreversibly" resolve the comfort women issue.
Under the 2015 deal, the Japanese government paid 1 billion yen (US$9.63 million), and the money was distributed through a foundation to former comfort women and the families of those who died.
However, the foundation was dissolved in 2019 after the administration of South Korean President Moon Jae-In concluded that the deal, reached under a previous government, failed to properly reflect the women's wishes.
Some 5.7 billion won remains unused.
Yonhap said Moon had earlier called for a diplomatic solution to the issue, referring to his two-track approach separating historical disputes from efforts to forge "future-oriented" bilateral ties.
"The Korean government will closely assess the impact of the ruling on bilateral relations and will work to continue constructive and future-oriented cooperation between the two countries," the ministry said.