Revisiting the 1965 Claims Agreement between Korea and Japan

China and Japan were opened with unequal treaties by U.K. and the U.S. respectively. and Korea by Japan. Korea’s independence was secured in several treaties with Japan. In 1905, however, Korea became a protectorate under Japan’s coercion and was annexed in 1910 by Japan. The 1965 Claims Agreement confirms that all matters concerning claims between Korea and Japan are completely and finally settled. In 2012 and 2018, the Korean Supreme Court ruled that, regardless of the Agreement, Japanese companies must compensate forced laborers. The Korean government takes the position that while the Agreement is valid, the claims of force laborers are not extinguished. Japan argues that their claims were settled. In general, both countries and the international community take the position that the Agreement is not enough to settle the comfort women issue. In 2015, Korea and Japan agreed to settle the issue but failed to satisfy the victims. In 2021, the Seoul District Court released two rulings on comfort women that contradicted each other, one for the victims regardless of the Agreement and state immunity, and one for Japan due to state immunity. Koreans severely suffered under Japan’s occupation. The Agreement, however, deals with the legal matters between both countries in terms of economic cooperation, not from human rights perspectives. There are contradicting various views on the validity and scope of the Agreement, it would be hard to interpret that all the legal issues including that of comfort women were all settled by the Agreement. International law is not just rules. It is also a process. The whole process on forced laborers including the Korean courts’s rulings and comfort women may contribute to the development of human rights law in the long run.