"Japanese Military Sexual Slavery is prostitution." Former professor Ryu Seok-chun is not guilty of appeal..."No one was forcibly taken away" vs. "A verdict of sympathy for treason".

Former Yonsei University professor Ryu Seok-chun, who was put on trial for speaking to the effect that the victims of the Japanese military's "Japanese Military Sexual Slavery" voluntarily prostitute, was also acquitted by the appeals court.

The Seoul Western District Court today (24th) maintained its original ruling that acquitted former professor Ryu, who is accused of defamation by timely disclosure of false information.

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 and that it should be viewed as a personal view during discussions during university lectures.

The appeals court also judged that the remarks were made during the question-and-answer process with students during university lectures, and that defamation charges were not established against the entire general and abstract object rather than specifying individual victims.

Immediately after the ruling, former professor Ryu repeatedly told reporters that no Japanese Military Sexual Slavery victims were forcibly taken, and the Justice and Memory Alliance criticized the ruling, saying it was in sympathy with anti-human rights and treason.

Former professor Ryu was put on trial in 2019 for defaming victims by saying that Japanese Military Sexual Slavery was a type of prostitution during a lecture at Yonsei University.