The 20th Anniversary of the 2000 Women's International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan's Military Sexual Slavery. – Unfinalized Judgement and Unfinished Tasks
This year marks the 20th year after the 2000 Women's International War Crimes Tribunal for Japan's Military Sexual Slavery (hereafter 2000 Women's International Tribunal). The 2000 Women's International Tribunal, which took place from December 7 to 12, 2000 in Tokyo, was a civil court and joint indictment corps comprised of 10 countries, including Korea, China, Japan, and the Philippines, and raised the issue of the Japanese military's wartime sexual violence in Asia to the international community. It was a civil court and therefore not legally binding, but the victims testified regarding the Japanese soldiers' cruelties, and Emperor Hirohito and the Japanese government were convicted. Twenty years later, however, the Japanese military comfort women issue remains unresolved. On October 22, the Foundation invited the two people who took part in the historic court at the time—professor emeritus Nakahara Michiko of Waseda University and professor emeritus Chung Chin-sung of Seoul National University—to listen to what the court concluded.
Moderator: Do Si-hwan, head of Research Center on Japanese Military Comfort Women, Northeast Asian History Foundation / Written by Yun Hyeon-ju