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Korea's Court Denies Japan's State Immunity Again

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2025

Kim Chang-Rok
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Abstract

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On November 23, 2023, the Seoul High Court issued a ruling excluding Japan's state immunity and fully accepting the claims of Japanese military ‘comfort women’ victims, following the one made by the Seoul Central District Court to the same effect on January 8, 2021. The rulings of the Korean courts are groundbreaking, contributing to the establishment of customary international law by clearly declaring that state immunity does not apply when a sovereign act of the state constitutes a serious violation of human rights, and furthermore, when it constitutes a tort. The Korean courts' rulings in turn reflect the international community's legal judgment regarding Japanese military ‘comfort women’ over the past 30 years. The Japanese government did not respond to the lawsuits at all and condemned the rulings as violating international law, claiming state immunity. However, the Japanese government's condemnation is just a self-contradiction, as it enacted an act embodying the customary international law that foreign countries are not exempt from jurisdiction over court proceedings in case of torts.

Keywords

state immunitysovereign immunityJapanese military ‘comfort women‘Japanese military sexual slaverySeoul High Court's ruling
Type
Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 22 , Issue 1 , January 2024 , e1
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2024

References

Notes

1 Republic of Korea, Seoul High Court, Case No. 2016가합505092, 23 November 2023. Korean version is available online at C:/Users/user/Dropbox/PC%20(2)/Downloads/곽예남외15vs일본군_판결21나2017165익명.pdf; Japanese version is available online at http://justice.skr.jp/koreajudgements/53-2.pdf. All internet sites cited in this article are based on search results as of December 22, 2023.

2 Republic of Korea, Seoul Central District Court, Case No. 2021나2017165, 8 January 2021. Korean version is available online at http://womenandwar.net/kr/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/판결문-일본군위안부피해자vs일본국_2016가합505092.pdf; Japanese version is available online at http://justice.skr.jp/koreajudgements/30-1.pdf; English version is available online at https://womenandwar.net/kr/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/ENG-2016_Ga_Hap_505092_30Jun2021.pdf.

3 ICJ, Jurisdictional Immunities of the State (Germany v. Italy: Greece intervening), Judgment, 3 February 2012, available online at https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/143/143-20120203-JUD-01-00-EN.pdf.

4 Italy, Court of Cassation, Ferrini v. Federal Republic of Germany, decision No. 5044/4, 11 March 2004, available online at https://documents.law.yale.edu/sites/default/files/ferrini_v._germany_-_italy_-_2004.pdf.

5 Ibid., para. 91. Emphasis added by the author.

6 Italy, Constitutional Court, Judgment No. 238, 22 October 2014, available online at https://www.cortecostituzionale.it/documenti/download/doc/recent_judgments/S238_2013_en.pdf.

7 Brazil, Federal Supreme Court (Supremo Tribunal Federal), Recurso Extraordinario com Agravo 954.858 Rio de Janeiro, 23 August 2021, available online at http://portal.stf.jus.br/processos/downloadPeca.asp?id=15347973404&ext=.pdf.

8 Japan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “Regarding the Judgment of the Seoul High Court of the Republic of Korea in the Lawsuit Filed by Former Comfort Women and Others (Statement by Foreign Minister KAMIKAWA Yoko),” 23 November 2023, available online at https://www.mofa.go.jp/press/release/press1e_000489.html.

9 Republic of Korea, Constitutional Court, Case No. 2016헌마253, 27 December 2019, available online at https://isearch.ccourt.go.kr/search.do#view.do?link=46771_010300.

10 United Nations, “United Nations Convention on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Their Property”, adopted on 2 December 2004, available online at https://treaties.un.org/doc/source/recenttexts/english_3_13.pdf.

11 日本国外務省, ｢国及びその財産の裁判権からの免除に関する国際連合条約について, March 2021, available online at https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/gaiko/treaty/shomei_23_gai.html.

12 According to Japanese lawyers and legal scholars, properties owned by foreign countries etc. in the State of the forum, for which state immunity over forcible execution is excluded by this provision, include real estate for lease to the general public, deposit claims related deposit accounts opened for fund management for commercial purposes, idle land, and merchant ships docked at ports in the State of the forum. See 西脇英司・米山朋宏, ｢国等に対する我が国の民事裁判権に関する法律（対外国民事裁判権法）の概要｣, 『NBL』 908, 2009, p.47 ;村上正子, ｢外国等に対する我が国の民事裁判権に関する法律（対外国民事裁判権法）｣, 『ジュリスト 1385, 2009, p.75.