Japan-Korea Comfort Women Compensation Appeal Case (2024 (Ne) 5561)

In 2025, an appeal was filed in Japan (case 令和6(ネ)5561) by former "comfort women" victims, including Lee Yong-soo, seeking compensation from the Japanese government for wartime sexual enslavement. The plaintiffs, Korean survivors and bereaved families, challenged a lower court dismissal, arguing Japan waived sovereign immunity for systematic crimes against humanity. The case tests the 1965 Claims Agreement's scope and whether individual rights were extinguished. It is a pivotal moment in the transnational legal pursuit of redress for historical atrocities.

The appellate court initially indicated it would uphold the dismissal, reaffirming the principle of state immunity in Japanese jurisprudence and ruling that individual claims were covered and extinguished by the 1965 bilateral treaty, thus barring litigation.

Whether the Japanese government can claim sovereign immunity against compensation claims for crimes against humanity; whether the 1965 South Korea-Japan Claims Settlement Agreement definitively settled individual victims' right to reparations; and whether international human rights norms override domestic procedural bars in historical sexual violence cases.

The case intensified diplomatic strain between South Korea and Japan, undermining efforts for historical reconciliation. It galvanized international human rights organizations to advocate for a binding international treaty on crimes against humanity, and exposed the limitations of domestic courts in addressing colonial-era grievances, fueling public protests and calls for Japan's sincere apology and legal reparations.