"‘Comfort Women’ Controversy: Ramseyer Acknowledges Relationship with Japanese Government... 'No Impact on Paper'"

Revealed in Interview with Harvard Crimson, Harvard University Campus Newspaper

Mark Ramseyer, Professor at Harvard Law School

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ji-hee] Mark Ramseyer, a Harvard Law School professor who sparked controversy with a paper describing Japanese military comfort women victims as prostitutes, is reported to have acknowledged his ties with the Japanese government.

Harvard's campus newspaper, The Harvard Crimson, reported on the 5th (local time) that in an interview with Professor Ramseyer following the controversy over the paper's content, he did not deny having a relationship with the Japanese government. According to The Harvard Crimson, when asked whether he denied ties with the Japanese government, Ramseyer responded, "Why should I do that now?" Later, he clarified in a separate email to The Harvard Crimson that "the relationship with the Japanese government had no influence whatsoever on the paper."

Analysts suggest that the reason Ramseyer, who officially uses the title "Mitsubishi Japanese Law Professor" at Harvard Law School, could not deny his ties with the Japanese government is due to his receipt of the Japanese government decoration, the Order of the Rising Sun, in 2018. At that time, Ramseyer was awarded the honor in recognition of his contributions to Japanese studies and promotion of Japanese culture.

In another interview, Ramseyer revealed, "My mother, who lived in Japan with me during my childhood, was proud of my receiving the Order of the Rising Sun." After receiving the Order, he also published historical papers reflecting the perspective of Japanese right-wing groups, justifying the massacre of Koreans during the Great Kanto Earthquake and discrimination against Korean residents in Japan.

Meanwhile, as academic criticism of Ramseyer's paper continued, he indicated a willingness to actively respond. In mid-last month, he sent two emails to The Harvard Crimson stating that he was preparing a piece defending his paper and would complete it soon. However, he has neither responded to students' questions about this piece nor made it public.

In academia, counterarguments continue that Ramseyer's paper lacks evidence and contains fundamental errors in the process of drawing conclusions. The International Review of Law and Economics (IRLE), which had announced the publication of the comfort women distortion paper, has also requested Ramseyer to submit a rebuttal to these criticisms by the end of this month.