Comfort women ruling frays South Korea-Japan ties ahead of Biden era

US president-elect's 'united front of allies' faces challenge from the get-go

A statue symbolizing wartime "comfort women" near the Japanese Embassy in Seoul: The countries still face tensions over the issue despite a 2015 agreement designed to "finally and irreversibly" put it to rest. © AP

YOSUKE ONCHI and MASAYA KATO, Nikkei staff writers

January 10, 2021 05:55 JST

SEOUL/TOKYO -- Relations between Japan and South Korea have plumbed new lows after a South Korean court ordered Tokyo to pay reparations to former wartime "comfort women," further eroding trust between the two countries leading into U.S. President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration.

South Korea's major newspapers carried the ruling as their top story on Saturday, with the progressive Hankyoreh calling the decision "historic." Conservative outlets including Dong-a Ilbo noted the potential for relations to erode further.