A South Korean court’s decision Wednesday that contradicted a previous “comfort women” ruling may be seen as a win for Japan, but Tokyo is not celebrating the verdict as it does not expect tensions between the two neighboring countries to ease anytime soon.
The Seoul Central District Court tossed out a lawsuit by former comfort women — a euphemism for those who suffered under Japan’s military brothel system before and during World War II — demanding roughly ￥290 million in damages directly from the Japanese government to compensate for physical and psychological suffering. The dismissal was in direct contradiction to a January ruling delivered by a different group of judges in the same court.
Debilitated by a failure to stabilize soaring housing costs and election losses in key mayoral races, South Korean leader Moon Jae-in is in danger of essentially becoming a lame-duck president with his term expiring in May next year.