A total of 20 former sex slaves and their relations, out of the 240 who registered as victims of sexual slavery by the Japanese military have filed a suit seeking compensation of 200 million won (approx. $171,000) from the Japanese government since 2016 but only recently came to light because the Japanese Government failed to receive copies of the complaint.
Japan maintains that all such matters were settled within the 1965 treaty that normalized the relations between the two countries and accused South Korea of revisiting the past. They also did not make an appearance at the first hearing.
The South Korean Government has previously tried to settle the altercation that has spanned for decades in 2015, by requesting that Tokyo fund a Seoul-based foundation to support the victims which were criticized by South Koreans who were of the opinion that the move was an attempt to silence the victims with money.
