Awaiting Justice

[Anchor Lead]

Although it has been 71 years since Korea achieved independence from Japanese colonial rule, the legal battle for the Korean victims of the Japanese army's sex slavery regime is still work in progress.

[Pkg]

This elderly woman, Lee Ok-seon, was forced to undergo unspeakable ordeals for 3 years as a sex slave for the Japanese military when she was just 15. Now aged 90 years old, her only wish is to receive an apology and compensation from Japan.

[Soundbite] Lee Ok-seon(Victim of Japanese Sex Slavery) : "This problem must be resolved even if all of us die. We must restore our dignity."

Early this year, 12 victims of the Japanese army's sex slavery filed a suit at a domestic court, but the first trial has yet to be held. The reason is that the Japanese government is remaining silent on the matter, capitalizing on the international law that sovereign nations are not subject to legal decisions made by other countries. The victims are calling for an exclusion to the state immunity law for the issue of compensation for Japan's crimes against humanity.

[Soundbite] Kim Kang-won(Attorney for Victims) : "A country cannot have immunity from its responsibility for collective sex slavery."

Even if the Korean court rules that Japan must compensate the victims, the Japanese government is highly likely to reject the verdict, and the victims' legal battle against the country that inflicted such enormous suffering upon them will likely continue.