The family of a late comfort woman has won a damages suit in South Korea against the Japanese government.

The Cheongju District Court ruled Friday partially in favor of the plaintiff, Lee Man-young, the son of the late Gil Gap-soon.

The amount of compensation was not disclosed.

This is the third time a Korean court has recognized Japan's liability for compensating comfort women victims and their families.

The plaintiff's attorney said both countries are signatories to the Hague Convention, which acknowledges mutual judicial jurisdiction. He added that the court appears to have accepted the argument that a nation can be treated as a legal entity.

Born in 1924 in Muju, 183 kilometers south of Seoul, Gil Gap-soon was taken to Nagasaki, Japan, in 1941. She was 17 years old at the time and forced to live as a comfort woman. She died in 1998 at the age of 74 from acute lung cancer.
Her son filed the lawsuit in January last year.

The ruling came after just two hearings, and the Japanese government did not appear in court.

Following the verdict, the Japanese government expressed strong regret. It said the decision clearly violates international law and agreements between South Korea and Japan, and is completely unacceptable.