'Comfort Women Of The Empire' Author Park Yu Ha Ordered To Pay $74,000 As Compensation For Lawsuit Filed By War Crime Victims

The Seoul Eastern District Court has ordered Park Yu Ha, a university professor, to pay $74,000 as compensation to those she referred to as comfort women in her book titled "Comfort Women of the Empire."

According to NHK World, the book is a euphemism for nine women sexually enslaved during the Second World War. In the book, Park blames Japan's colonial rule for what happened to the women.

New York Times reported that the district court on Wednesday ruled in favor of the nine victims. The court also recognized that the book inflicted emotional distress on them by depicting them in a degrading manner based on false facts.

"Park indicated in her book that the victims not only voluntarily become prostitutes, but added that they actually enjoyed it, thereby incurring enormous emotional distress," the court said.

Japan Times asserted that Park was indicted without arrest on criminal charges.

The nine plaintiffs, including 87-year-old Lee Ok Seon, had filed a suit in June claiming that the scholar and the publishing company had degraded them. The complaint indicated that the plaintiffs sought indemnificiation amounting to $2500 each.

However, the court found that the book's publisher is not liable for the damagin remarks mentioned against comfort women in the books. It also dismissed Park's allegations that the book should be immune from criminal prosecution because it was an academic piece of work and cited the basic right to dignity because the victims are still alive.

A lawyer for the plaintiffs conquered with the judge's ruling although the compensation was less than what the plaintiff's demanded.

Meanwhile, Park said that she would appeal the court's ruling.

In other news, the Seoul Eastern District Court  decision has received criticism from both South Korean citizens and abroad, saying that it suppressed the freedom of speech and learning. 

"It is important that freedom of expression be guaranteed in any country," Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said. However, Suga refrained from directly commenting on the ruling.