A return to 'Comfort Women', a tainted chapter of World War II revived

- The claim of 16 'comfort women' is upheld but 15 of these women have passed away and only one woman is alive, who is now 94 years old.

- 'Comfort Women' is one of the most infamous episodes of World War II. During the Second World War, countries including Japan and Germany built military brothels to satisfy the needs of their soldiers. South Korea was occupied by Japan so military brothels were built in South Korea as well. It housed girls from 15 years old to 25 years old. Girls and young women were picked up and forced to have sex with old soldiers. No matter how cruel they were, there was no one to listen to their complaints. Due to this, it is impossible to imagine what his physical and mental condition would be.

The South Korean capital Seoul's High Court ruled in favor of the 'comfort women' and ordered the Japanese government to pay compensation to 16 women, recalling the worst episode of World War II. Relations between Japan and South Korea have also become strained as Japan refuses to accept the ruling.

During the Second World War, the girls and young women who had sex with the Japanese soldiers and gave them physical pleasure were called 'comfort women'. A group of 16 such 'comfort women' sued the Japanese government in 2016 to order them to pay compensation for their torture and forced prostitution. A lower Korean court rejected the claim in 2021, saying that the Japanese government did not fall under its jurisdiction and therefore could not order it.

The Seoul High Court, taking a different stance, upheld the claims of 16 'comfort women' and ordered the Japanese government to compensate each woman 200 million won (about 1.54 million dollars - 1.30 million rupees). Among these 16 women, 15 women have passed away and only a woman named Lee Yong-su is alive. Lee Yong-soo is now 94 years old and was forced into a brothel at the age of 12.

The lives of these women, including Lee, were very painful even after the end of World War II. Almost socially ostracized, the hardships these women and their families must have endured is staggering. The High Court has asked her to pay compensation for the social ostracism she suffered due to being made a 'comfort woman'.

This amount is not very big for the Japanese government. The families of Lee Song-yu and the remaining 15 women have to pay around 2.5 million dollars, but the question is not the amount. For Japan to be willing to pay this amount would be an admission that Japan has committed atrocities against Korean women. Because of this, the Japanese government is not ready to accept this verdict, but Koreans believe that if Japan wants long-term good relations with Korea, it should atone for its past sins. The Koreans should show their goodwill by paying compensation for the atrocities committed against them.

Much of the world also agrees with the Koreans that 'Comfort Women' is one of the most stigmatized chapters of World War II. During the Second World War, countries including Japan and Germany built military brothels to satisfy the needs of their soldiers. South Korea was occupied by Japan so such military brothels were built in South Korea as well. It housed girls from 15 years old to 25 years old. Naturally, no girl or young woman was willing to volunteer for such work, so they were picked up and forced to have sex with old soldiers. Even if he was given money in return, the amount was negligible.

In these military brothels, they were subjected to inhuman atrocities. Soldiers like hunger pangs pounced on the girls and physically assaulted them. The girls were forced to enjoy physical pleasure with twenty-twenty soldiers a day. It was his job to be present at the service of a soldier whenever he came and to satisfy the hunger of his body. Whatever the atrocities, there was no one to listen to his complaints. Due to this, it is impossible to imagine what his physical and mental condition would be.

About 200,000 girls from all over Korea were forcibly kept in military brothels. Most of these young women succumbed to serious venereal diseases and died by the end of World War. Most of the comfort women who survived were unwilling to be adopted by their families, so they spent the rest of their lives selling their bodies. World War gave him a life of torture that was worse than hell. Thousands of these girls were pregnant when the Second World War ended. There was no income to raise their children so thousands of women also faced severe problems related to it.

The Japanese abducted girls from China, Philippines, Indonesia, Taiwan etc. and kept them in brothels in Korea. Of course the Broadhills were in Korea so Korea paid the heaviest price.

Japan has not denied that Korean girls were tortured but has blamed international treaties. Japan says that the 1965 agreement between South Korea and Japan has resolved all the problems that occurred during Japan's rule of Korea from 1910 to 1945. Even on the 'comfort women' issue, all issues with South Korea have been resolved in 2015, but Japan is not going to give any compensation.

Korea has no choice but to accept this because Korean courts have no authority to order the Japanese government due to sovereign immunity. According to international law, a court of a country cannot issue any order to the government of another country. Korea has to obey this law, so there is nothing they can do against Japan. Japan has asked the Korean government to immediately amend the judgment given by the High Court. Korea will also have to do it, so this chapter will be over very soon, but because of that, the stigma of 'comfort women' will not be removed from Japan's head, that stigma will always remain.

Germany built 500 military brodhels in Eastern Europe

Like Japan, Hitler's Germany also created military brothels to satisfy the sexual needs of its soldiers in occupied European countries during World War II. There were over 500 Brodhels in German-occupied Europe. In these brothels, more than a million girls were forced to have sex. Young women were also abducted from France and Russia and pushed into Brodhels.

Jewish women were forced into prostitution by setting up brothels in the concentration camps that housed Jews in Germany. In most cases, after the German army occupied the countries of Eastern Europe, soldiers would break into homes and abduct girls, rape them and force them into military brothels. After World War II, Germany maintained that most brothels were voluntary, and that these brothels were already in operation. However, since World War II, 34,140 European women complained that they had been forced into prostitution. Organizations including the Red Cross have written about the painful condition of the girl in their reports, so Germany and Japan have a history of inhumane atrocities.

Child labor dispute between Japan and Korea

There is also a dispute between Japan and South Korea over the forced labor of Korean children in Japanese factories. From 1910 to 1945, when Korea was occupied by Japan, Japan set up a large number of factories in Korea. Eight-ten year old children were engaged in black labor in these factories.

A group of surviving child laborers filed for compensation in a Korean court. In 2018, the Supreme Court of Korea ordered the Japanese government to compensate these children. Even then, Japan had signed the 1965 treaty by claiming that it had compensated all of them.

In Korea, the Korean government took money from its companies and announced to set up a fund to compensate the surviving child laborers. There is anger among Koreans against Japan as Japanese companies refuse to give any amount for this fund. Currently, there are about 1,300 child laborers in Korea who are victims of Japanese atrocities.