Japan rejects South Korean ruling on 'comfort women'

By Sena Guler

ANKARA (AA) - Japan Saturday rejected a landmark ruling on wartime "comfort women" by South Korea, calling on Seoul to "take measures to correct violations of international law."

In a phone call with South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung Wha, his Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi rejected Friday's verdict ordering Tokyo to compensate women forced to work as wartime sex slaves, according to Kyodo News.

The Seoul Central District Court ruled that Tokyo must give 100 million won ($91,300) each to 12 women who were abducted and kept in Japanese brothels during World War II.

The victims, euphemistically labeled "comfort women", filed the case in 2013 and the first hearing was held last April.

Motegi said the ruling violates international law and urged Seoul to "immediately take appropriate measures to correct the violation of international law," Kyodo News quoted the Japanese Foreign Ministry as saying.

During the phone call, Motegi stressed that the decision was also against a bilateral accord inked in 2015 to "finally and irreversibly" resolve the comfort women issue, it added.