UN-level action has shifted from historical disputes involving individual countries to international human rights obligations concerning wartime sexual violence, sexual slavery, truth, justice, reparations, and the right to remembrance.
I. Background: Victims of the Japanese military's "comfort women" system came from multiple countries and regions, including South Korea, China, the Philippines, Indonesia, East Timor, and the Netherlands. UN human rights mechanisms have long received information from survivors, support organizations, and relevant countries, and have consistently focused on Japan's responsibility for wartime sexual violence.
II. Recent Developments: On March 6, 2026, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights released a statement by several UN special procedures experts, noting that nearly 80 years later, victims and their families still face obstacles to obtaining truth, justice, reparations, and remembrance. The experts specifically pointed out that the 2015 bilateral agreement between South Korea and Japan failed to provide survivor-centered justice and emphasized that diplomatic agreements between states should not replace or exclude individual accountability. The statement also called on Japan to provide a formal apology, appropriate reparations, effective remedies, and measures to prevent recurrence, and requested relevant countries to provide legal and practical support for survivors to obtain judicial relief.
III. Status: Action Status – International mechanisms continue to monitor the situation (UN experts have communicated with the governments of Japan, South Korea, China, Indonesia, East Timor, the Netherlands, and the Philippines; publicly available information indicates that this issue remains in the stage of international human rights monitoring and advocacy).
Source: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) 2026-03-06