Ryu Seok-chun is not guilty of 'Japanese Military Sexual Slavery prostitution'...Jeong Eui-yeon, "Rebel History Judgment"

[Anchor]
Former Yonsei University professor Ryu Seok-chun, who said in a university lecture that Japanese military Japanese Military Sexual Slavery is a type of prostitution, was also acquitted in the second trial.

Former professor Ryu, who left the court, insisted that no Japanese Military Sexual Slavery victims were forcibly taken, and the Justice and Memory Alliance criticized the court for making a treasonous ruling.

Reporter Lim Ye-jin reports.

[Reporter]
Former Yonsei University professor Ryu Seok-chun was put on trial in September 2019 for speaking to the effect that "Japanese military Japanese Military Sexual Slavery is voluntary prostitution."

He is accused of defaming the victims with false information, but he was acquitted at an appeal trial following the first trial.

Earlier, the first trial court acquitted former professor Ryu, saying that his remarks were against conventional wisdom and that the academic freedom guaranteed by the Constitution should be limited to the minimum.

The appeals court also judged that it was difficult to punish each victim because it was a personal opinion expressed in a discussion during a university lecture, and it was an abstract statement that did not specify each victim.

However, the court maintained its original ruling, which sentenced the victims of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery to a fine of 2 million won, saying that it constitutes defamation due to false facts.

Former professor Ryu repeatedly insisted that there was no problem with the controversial remarks, saying that the prosecution had unreasonable prosecution.

[RYU SUKCHUN / Former Yonsei University professor: I was talking in the classroom about people who went to make money. But he's innocent now. Why do you keep asking questions? If there's even one person who's been forcibly taken away, give him his real name. Let's try again with me. I don't have it.]

He also said he would appeal the guilty part to the Supreme Court.

The Justice and Memory Solidarity expressed regret that the court acquitted former professor Ryu, saying that freedom of expression does not apply to cases that distort historical truth and undermine the dignity of victims.

In addition, he dismissed former professor Ryu's remarks immediately after the trial, saying that the damage to the Japanese Military Sexual Slavery is a historical truth that has already been revealed.

[Kang Kyung-ran / Director of Movement for Justice and Memory Solidarity: I think it is a ruling in sympathy with anti-human rights and treasonous history for the court not to put any brakes on anti-human rights and treasonous remarks in the name of academic freedom and freedom of professors.]

Like the first trial, the prosecution, which had sought a year and a half in prison in the appeal trial, is considering whether to appeal based on the ruling.

Controversy is expected to continue until the Supreme Court's final judgment, with the trial of remarks on the Japanese military's Japanese Military Sexual Slavery continuing for more than four years.

I'm YTN's Lim Yejin.