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The Diplomat (8 December 2023)

Jason Morgan and Kenji Yoshida

South Korea’s erratic court rulings and disharmony in the justice system are jeopardizing its bilateral relations with Japan.

A long-standing legal axiom holds that courts should render similar decisions in similar cases. In a rule-based society, judicial consistency is paramount in preserving the rule of law and avoiding disarray. This principle is even more relevant when litigation involves multiple nations, as a unilateral verdict in one country may induce unwarranted diplomatic conflict. In that regard, and given the political ramifications of East Asia’s “history wars,” conflicting adjudications by South Korean courts over wartime disputes with Japan warrant further scrutiny. 

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