The Korea Herald

지나쌤

Korean scholar's wages to be seized over wartime sex slaves dispute

By KH디지털2

Published : Feb. 16, 2016 - 13:14

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A local court has ordered a South Korean scholar's wages be partly seized, following another court's decision for her to compensate nine women who were sexually enslaved by Tokyo during World War II, legal sources said Tuesday.

The Seoul Western District Court accepted the nine plaintiffs' request for garnishment and a collection order and told Sejong University to deduct it from the monthly wage of professor Park Yu-ha, the author of "Comfort Women of the Empire," starting this month.

The book, released in August 2013, has been at the core of controversy for disputing the coerciveness of the "comfort women" system.

In January, the Seoul Eastern District Court ordered Park to compensate the nine women by giving them 10 million won ($8,300) each for the mental distress they suffered due to her controversial book.

In February 2015, the court also ordered Park to delete some passages from the book, including one that describes some of the victims as "voluntary prostitutes," in order to continue sales.

She is currently standing criminal trial on charges of defaming the victims. 

"I think I have been too naive in responding (to the issue) so far," Park wrote on her social media after receiving the notice from the school. "I cannot help but change my attitude for myself, above all, but also to prevent them from bullying others."

Park released a second version of the book after redacting 34 sections and has distributed the book free of charge on her website since February.

Historians estimate that more than 200,000 women, mostly from Korea, were forced to work in front-line brothels for Japanese soldiers during the war. Korea was under Japanese colonial rule from 1910 to 1945. The victims are euphemistically called "comfort women." (Yonhap)