SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean woman who was sexually enslaved by Japan’s World War II military called for the leaders of both countries to settle an impasse over the issue by seeking judgment from the International Court of Justice. Lee Yong-soo hopes a ruling by the court would bring closure after she and other survivors campaigned unsuccessfully for the Japanese government to accept legal responsibility for their slavery. It’s unclear if Seoul would ever consider referring the matter to the U.N. court, where it has never fought any case and when anything less than a lopsided victory might be seen at home as a defeat. Japan insists all wartime compensation issues were settled under a 1965 treaty normalizing relations with South Korea.
