Comfort Women Victim Loses Second Trial for Damages Against Professor Park Yuha of 'The Empire's Comfort Women'

Court: "Academic and Objective Description"

The Statue of Peace in front of the former Japanese Embassy in Jongno-gu is wearing winter accessories such as a knit hat and scarf. Photo by Asia Economy

In the second trial of a damages lawsuit filed by former comfort women victims against Park Yu-ha (68), an emeritus professor at Sejong University and author of "The Empire's Comfort Women," the court ruled against the plaintiffs. The book "The Empire's Comfort Women," published in 2013, sparked controversy for describing comfort women victims as "prostitutes" and stating that "it was not the Japanese military who forcibly took the comfort women," but the court stated that it was difficult to consider this as an infringement of personal rights.

According to Yonhap News on the 22nd, "The Seoul High Court Civil Division 12-1 (Presiding Judges Jang Seok-jo, Bae Gwang-guk, Park Hyung-joon) overturned the first trial and ruled against the plaintiffs in the second trial of a damages lawsuit filed by nine comfort women victims, including the late Lee Ok-sun, against Professor Park." The first trial had ordered compensation of 10 million won per person, totaling 90 million won.

According to the report, the court stated, "The parts described in this case are academic and objective descriptions," and "even if emotional impact was felt, it is difficult to see it as an infringement of personal rights when comparing the constitutional value of guaranteeing academic freedom." It also stated, "Considering the overall context of the book, it is difficult to see that the defendant infringed on the plaintiffs' personal rights by claiming that the plaintiffs voluntarily became comfort women or were collaborators with the Japanese military."

Park Yoo-ha, Professor Emeritus at Sejong University. Yonhap News Agency

Professor Park published "The Empire's Comfort Women" in August 2013. Nine plaintiffs, including Lee Ok-sun, filed a lawsuit against Professor Park in July 2014, demanding 30 million won each in damages for defamation, citing 34 phrases in the book that described the comfort women grandmothers as "mental comforters," "patriotic maidens who helped soldiers carry out the war," and "voluntary prostitutes."

The first trial verdict was delivered two years later in 2016. However, the civil trial was halted as Professor Park was separately prosecuted for defamation and a criminal trial was underway. The Supreme Court ruled in October 2023 that Professor Park was not guilty, and the acquittal was finalized in April last year.

At that time, the Supreme Court stated, "It is necessary to be cautious in evaluating expressions of opinion based on academic research as factual statements in defamation cases," and "unless there are special circumstances such as violations of basic research ethics, acts that seriously deviate from the generally accepted scope in the field making it difficult to consider as an academic process, or expressions unrelated to the argument or context that infringe on others' rights, academic research is fundamentally a legitimate act."