By Lee Seong-hyon
A recent court ruling over a key historical issue between South Korea and Japan has emerged as another major impediment to Seoul-Tokyo ties.
On Jan. 8, the Seoul Central District Court ruled in favor of South Korean victims of Japan s wartime sex slavery, ordering the Japanese government to pay 100 million won ($91,500) in compensation to each of the 12 victims who had filed the case. The defendant s illegal activities are recognized and the plaintiffs suffered from severe mental and physical pain, the court said.
The verdict came almost five years after the case was filed. When the ruling came out, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga called the decision utterly unacceptable, but said he had no intention of appealing the ruling because the Japanese government would not accept submission to Korea s jurisdiction under the principle of national exemption.