2023-05-11 11:19:01
◀ Anchor ▶
Lee Yong-su, a 95-year-old comfort woman victim who has demanded an apology and compensation from the Japanese government, returned to court in a wheelchair.
A gray-haired lawyer stood side by side with her grandmother today.
This is Seita Yamamoto, a Japanese lawyer who actively defended Korean victims during the Japanese colonial period in Japan.
Japanese testimony in a Korean courtroom, lawyer Yamamoto testified that “the Japanese government must compensate the victims, and as a lawyer, I cannot understand the Japanese government.”
Reporter Kim Sang-hoon will tell you.
◀ Report ▶
It has been 31 years since the victims of comfort women were exposed.
Grandmother Lee Yong-soo went to court once more.
[이용수 할머니]
″30 years, formal apology and legal compensation… ″
A man standing next to him.
This is Seita Yamamoto, a Japanese lawyer who appeared as a witness in the trial.
In 1998, the first trial court in Shimonoseki, Japan ordered the Japanese government to compensate 300,000 yen each to 10 victims of forced labor, including comfort women.
Although the ruling was not finalized, it remained the only history in which a Japanese court acknowledged liability.
Mr. Yamamoto was the attorney for this case, which was called the “Government Court Trial,” following the names of Shimonoseki and Busan, where the trials were alternately held.
In the first trial of a lawsuit filed by 20 people including Lee Yong-soo, our court sided with Japan, saying, ″The country cannot be brought to court in another country.″
However, lawyer Yamamoto, who appeared as a witness in the appeal trial, said, “There are cases where a war criminal state is brought to court.” “The victims’ right to claim is valid.”
[야마모토 세이타/변호사]
″A new example of not recognizing “sovereign immunity” to the perpetrator is emerging. I think it is wrong to apply the (past) conclusion as it is to this case.”
He said, “After majoring in Japanese history, I came to help Koreans who were discriminated once morest.”
In addition, he criticized that it is difficult to understand as a lawyer that Japanese companies that have entered Korea are ignoring the Korean ruling and the Japanese government is encouraging this.
[야마모토 세이타/변호사]
“It doesn’t make sense to me that (Prime Minister Kishida) is saying, ‘My heart hurts,’ while copying what he did during the Abe administration.”
After hearing more opinions, including from British lawyers, the judges plan to conclude whether the Japanese government can be held accountable.
This is Kim Sang-hoon from MBC News.
Video coverage: Kim Doo-young / Video editing: Kim Jin-woo
1683827805
#Korean #court #line #Japanese #lawyer #Japanese #government #compensate #comfort #women
