WWII Lawsuits Muddy Effort to Ease Japan-South Korea Tension
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South Korean activists are complicating President Park Geun Hye’s tentative steps to improve ties with Japan, by turning to courts to seek recognition they were forced to work for Japanese companies, used as sex slaves or suffered after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
A South Korean court Wednesday ordered Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. to pay five South Koreans compensation for forced labor prior to Japan’s defeat in World War II. A planned appeal could take the case to the Supreme Court, where two similar cases are pending. Further muddying the issue is a threat this week by women forced into sexual servitude to file a suit against Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the U.S.