Supreme Court orders House of Sharing to return donations made for wartime sexual slavery victims

The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the House of Sharing, a shelter for the victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery, to return donations back to donors, citing the disparity in the purpose of the donations and their actual use. The Supreme Court handed down the ruling in a lawsuit filed by a donor to seek the return of money donated to the organization, saying the plaintiff would not have agreed to donate the money had he known how donations were used. The top court said the plaintiff could have perceived that the donations were used in activities related to helping the comfort women, and that it would continue to do so in the present and future. "The fact that most of the donations were reserved in the corporate (account) to put up a particular building does not correspond to the purpose of the donation declared by the defendant," the court said, ordering the donation contract be nullified. The plaintiff, surnamed Lee, donated 50,000 won (US$36.62) monthly to the House of Sharing bank account designe d to accept donations for the wartime sexual slavery victims, euphemistically called "comfort women," on 31 occasions from Aug. 2017 to April 2020. Lee, along with other donors, filed a suit seeking the return of some 90 million won following revelations that the donations were not used for the victims in May 2020. It was later found that the massive donations were reserved in the corporate accounts for use in a senior sanatorium business later, and that the comfort women were left to pay for their medical expenses on their own. The ruling came after both the district court and appellate court dismissed the suit, leaving just one donor to file an appeal to the top court. Source: Yonhap News Agency