On September 15, 2025, a decades-old wound between Japan and South Korea was thrust back into the international spotlight as both governments exchanged sharply worded letters with the United Nations regarding the contentious issue of wartime sexual slavery. The latest flare-up comes after U.N. investigators criticized Tokyo for what they described as a failure to ensure truth-finding and reparations for surviving victims—known as "comfort women"—who were forced into sexual servitude for Japanese troops during World War II.
The renewed diplomatic friction was triggered in July 2025, when a group of U.N. human rights rapporteurs sent letters to Japan, South Korea, and several other countries—including China, the Philippines, Indonesia, the Netherlands, and East Timor—where survivors of wartime sexual slavery also reside. The U.N. investigators accused these governments of not doing enough to provide survivors with "access to truth, justice, remedy, and reparations," and asked for formal responses within 60 days. Only Japan and South Korea’s replies were posted on the U.N. website as of September 15, according to the Associated Press.
Japan’s response was swift and unequivocal. The Japanese government, through its permanent mission in Geneva, reiterated its long-standing assertion that all compensation matters related to sexual slavery victims had been conclusively settled by previous agreements, most notably the 1965 treaty normalizing relations with South Korea and a separate 2015 deal specifically aimed at resolving the comfort women issue. Tokyo further described recent South Korean court rulings—spanning from 2021 to 2025 and ordering Japanese compensation for victims—as violations of international law and the principle of state immunity.
“The recent Korean court rulings violate the principle of state immunity in such lawsuits,” the Japanese statement read, urging Seoul to “take appropriate measures to remedy its breaches of international law as a country.” According to ABC and the Associated Press, Japan has consistently rejected the South Korean court orders, arguing that sovereign immunity protects it from such litigation and that the rulings contradict the terms of the 1965 treaty. That agreement, Tokyo insists, was intended to settle all outstanding claims stemming from Japan’s colonial rule over Korea, which ended in 1945.
South Korea, however, remains unconvinced. In its own letter to the U.N., the South Korean government called on Japan to “squarely face up to our painful history,” and sharply criticized Tokyo’s refusal to comply with the court-ordered compensation, saying it has denied survivors their rightful payments. South Korean courts have argued that sovereign immunity does not extend to crimes against humanity or wrongful acts committed on Korean soil against its citizens, especially not in cases as egregious as the forced sexual slavery of women and girls.
For many in South Korea, the issue is not just legal but deeply personal and moral. On August 13, 2025, former comfort woman Lee Yong-soo—one of the last living survivors—attended a rally near the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, demanding full compensation and an unambiguous apology from the Japanese government. Her presence was a poignant reminder of the human toll behind the diplomatic rhetoric. According to the Associated Press, at the time of the 2015 deal, there were 46 surviving victims of the 239 registered with South Korean authorities; by 2025, only six remain. Time is running out for these women to see justice in their lifetimes.
The U.N. investigators’ July letter also criticized what they described as the insufficiency of Japan’s past investigations and reparations. They noted that Tokyo continues to evade state and legal responsibility, particularly in its refusal to comply with the three South Korean court rulings issued over the past four years. While Japan has expressed regret over the suffering caused by wartime sexual slavery and, in 1995, established a fund from private contributions to compensate victims in the Philippines, South Korea, and Taiwan, many South Koreans have long viewed these gestures as lacking sincerity and failing to acknowledge true legal responsibility. The fund expired in 2007, and subsequent Japanese leaders have sometimes downplayed or questioned the country’s wartime conduct, further fueling resentment in South Korea.
The diplomatic dispute is nothing new. Historical grievances have repeatedly strained relations between Tokyo and Seoul, even as both nations have tried to move forward. Yet, recent years have seen tentative steps toward rapprochement, driven partly by the need to cooperate more closely with the United States in response to regional threats, including North Korea’s expanding nuclear arsenal.
In a sign of this shifting dynamic, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung traveled to Tokyo in August 2025 to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. The timing was notable: President Lee’s visit to Japan came just before he flew to Washington for a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump. This rare diplomatic choreography underscored how, despite persistent historical disputes, the three allies are increasingly drawing together to address shared security challenges. As the Associated Press reports, President Trump’s push to reset global trade terms and U.S. security commitments has nudged the often-feuding neighbors toward greater cooperation.
Still, the comfort women issue remains a stubborn obstacle. Some South Korean experts and survivors, including Lee Yong-soo, have even called for Japan and South Korea to jointly refer the dispute to the U.N.’s International Court of Justice—a move that could offer a neutral venue for adjudicating the matter. So far, however, neither government has taken that step.
Historians estimate that tens of thousands of women from across Asia—many of them Korean—were forced into front-line military brothels to provide sex to Japanese soldiers during World War II. The legacy of this system continues to haunt not only survivors and their families but also the broader relationship between the two countries. In the words of the U.N. investigators, the failure to ensure “access to truth, justice, remedy, and reparations” for these women remains an unresolved chapter in the region’s history.
As the number of living survivors dwindles, the urgency to address their grievances grows ever more acute. Whether recent diplomatic overtures can finally lead to a resolution—or whether the issue will continue to cast a shadow over Northeast Asian relations—remains to be seen. What is clear is that, for many, the past is far from settled, and the quest for justice endures.
