Statue of Peace. Yonhap News

A former professor at Kyung Hee University who claimed that victims of Japanese military sexual slavery had engaged in "voluntary prostitution" will not face trial.

The Seoul Northern District Prosecutors' Office's criminal division 1 (Chief Prosecutor Kim Eun-ha) announced on the 26th that it had decided not to prosecute Choi Jeong-sik, a former professor of philosophy at Kyung Hee University, who was transferred on charges of defamation.

It is understood that the prosecution concluded that the professor's remarks were closer to personal opinions or evaluations of social phenomena rather than stating specific facts, and therefore did not constitute defamation.

Professor Choi was accused of making defamatory remarks about the victims of Japanese military sexual slavery during his "Foundations of Western Philosophy" lecture in March 2023.

At the time, he was investigated for saying things like, "People who followed the Japanese military and engaged in prostitution," and "They went voluntarily, not because they were forced."

The Dongdaemun Police Station, which investigated the case following a complaint from a civic group, transferred Professor Choi to the prosecution without detention in February of last year on charges of defamation. Ms. Lee Yong-soo (97), a victim of sexual slavery, also submitted a handwritten statement urging strong punishment for Professor Choi.

Amid the controversy, the Kyung Hee University Corporation held a disciplinary committee for Professor Choi and imposed a three-month salary reduction. Professor Choi reportedly retired at the end of his term in February last year.

Yonhap News