Former Ambassador Shin Gak-soo (2011-2013) said in an interview with the Mainichi Newspaper on the 9th, “This ruling actually brought the comfort women issue back to its origin,” and said, “In particular, it includes content that completely denies the’comfort women agreement’ in 2015. I am worried that it will make it difficult to solve the problem in the future.
Ambassador Shin said, however, that there is still a possibility that the Japanese government’s “sovereignty waiver” will be recognized at the stage of execution of the judgment as there is a separate decision procedure when the Japanese government seeks to seize or sell assets in Korea as a means of securing compensation. He pointed out that there is something different from the lawsuit for conscription victims in which Japanese corporate assets have already been seized.
He emphasized that first of all, it is important that both the governments of Korea and Japan respond calmly.
He said that it is most desirable for the two countries to steadily implement the 2015 agreement and seek diplomatic solutions, such as further agreements if there are any deficiencies.
Professor Yoon Deok-min (international politics) of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (International Politics), former head of the National Institute of Foreign Affairs (2013-2017), said in an interview with the Yomiuri Shimbun, “It showed that the international community principle that the judicial law carefully judges when making diplomatic decisions has ceased to work in Korea.” He noted that the legal stability of Korea-Japan relations has been jeopardized by a series of rulings by the Korean judiciary on conscription and comfort women victims.
Professor Yoon, who pointed out that the Moon Jae-in administration ignored the’comfort women agreement’ and did not propose an alternative, stressed that “the government cannot intervene in the judiciary due to the separation of powers, but this is a problem that politics must solve.”
He said, “Whether (Moon Jae-in administration) negotiates with the Japanese government again or persuades the Korean people, the Korean government must come to the fore and try to solve it.”
Lee Won-deok, a professor at Kookmin University (Japanese Studies), who served as a director of the Reconciliation and Healing Foundation, said in an interview with the Asahi Shimbun that the Japanese government acknowledged and apologized for responsibility for the comfort women issue and resolved it in the framework of the 2015 comfort women agreement, which includes Japanese government funds. Said that it is most desirable.
However, he pointed out that the agreement is in a state of being destroyed, and for a peaceful settlement, the only way to resolve it is to seek the judgment of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) based on the agreement between the two countries.
Professor Lee also said, “In Japan, the Korean administration and the judiciary may seem like a lump, but in reality it is not,” he said. The Korean government will be confused by the ruling.
Professor Lee analyzed that “the (administrative government) cannot intervene in the judiciary according to the principle of separation of powers, and if it intervenes, the extent to which (the Moon Jae-in government) can move is limited, as it can be judged for violation of the constitution like former President Park Geun-hye.” did.
“It can be said that it is the Korean government rather than the Japanese government that is in a difficult position with this ruling.”
Professor Lee said there is a high possibility that public opinion of the other country will deteriorate in the future, and expressed the view that Korea should exercise its ability to manage confrontation and that Japan should not raise the problem by maintaining an attitude that does not intensify the confrontation.
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