A Seoul court has ordered the author of a controversial book on “comfort women” to have her wages seized, legal sources said Tuesday, following last month’s ruling that ordered the defendant to compensate nine victims of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery.

Park Yu-ha, the author of “Comfort Women of the Empire,” was found guilty of defamation and infringement of human rights against surviving comfort women last month, and was ordered to pay them 90 million won ($73,900) in compensation. The nine plaintiffs had requested for garnishment and a collection order, which the Seoul Western District Court decided to grant on Feb. 1.
 

Following the court decision, Park’s employer Sejong University notified her that her wages would be seized until she has fulfilled her legal duties to compensate the victims.

In the book, Park attempted to portray comfort women as victims of the imperialism that was rampant during World War II, unprotected by the state system. She claimed that seeing those women as mere victims of Japan’s wartime atrocity was “simplifying the situation.”

But her depiction of comfort women as “voluntary prostitutes” or “patriotic young women who helped soldiers carry out warfare,” along with the statement that the comfort women had “comrade-like” relations with the Japanese military sparked a nationwide uproar. Surviving sex slavery victims raised issue against 34 phrases that they saw as slander against them.

Proponents of Park have said that her own viewpoints should be respected, citing academic freedom, but opponents have said her statements have hurt and damaged the victims.

Park claimed that advocacy groups for the comfort women -- including House of Sharing, which provides shelter for 14 victims -- had dismissed views that were not consistent with their own, accusing them of holding the surviving victims “hostage.”

But the surviving victims have directly said that Park distorted facts in her book, and demanded an apology.

Park, who has consistently refused to apologize, said on her Facebook page that House of Sharing’s goal was to defame her further and that she had been “too naive.”

She has been distributing the book online for free since Feb. 1, with the removal of the 34 contentious phrases.

By Yoon Min-sik (minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)