Professor Park, author of ”Imperial Comfort Women,” found not guilty = South Korea

Park Yu-ha (67), professor emeritus at Sejong University, who was indicted on charges of defaming former comfort women in his book "The Comfort Women of the Empire," has been found not guilty.
According to the Korean legal profession on the 24th, the Seoul High Court Criminal Division 8 (Chief Judges Kim Jae-ho, Kim Kyung-ae, and Seo Jeong-gi)
The prosecution did not appeal within the deadline against the not guilty verdict handed down to Professor Park by the Supreme Court on the 12th. This brings to an end Professor Park's criminal trial after eight years.
Professor Park, in his book "Comfort Women of the Empire" published in August 2013, wrote that former comfort women were "prostitutes" and had "comradeship with the Japanese military" and were forcibly taken away by the Japanese Empire.
In December 2015, he was indicted on charges of defaming former comfort women by expressing that there were no such women.
The second instance court ruled that 11 cases were defamatory and fined 10 million won (approximately 1.12 million yen). The expression in question was, "The state violence of forced abduction caused Korean comfort women to be forced to prostitute themselves."
"No sexual assaults or prostitution were ever conducted in relation to this matter," and "Comfort women were women who were fundamentally engaged in prostitution." However, in October last year, the Supreme Court ruled that these expressions were "not citing facts that damage the reputation of others."
The Supreme Court overturned the case, stating that the statement cannot be considered defamatory. The Supreme Court stated that "it is necessary to be cautious when evaluating the expression of opinions based on academic research as the allegation of facts for defamation purposes."
Do not violate basic research ethics, or seriously deviate from the scope of what is normally accepted in the field, resulting in actions that cannot be considered part of the academic process, or infringe on the rights of others with expressions that are out of context or that are not related to the subject matter.
In principle, unless there are special circumstances, it is a legitimate act for academic research.
The court found Professor Park not guilty, stating that the expression was an academic assertion or opinion. However, in June 2014, about a year after the publication of his book, Professor Park was also sued for damages by former comfort women.
Professor Park was ordered to pay a total of 90 million won (approximately 10.13 million yen) in compensation to the plaintiffs, and the second trial is currently underway.