The Korean Publishers Association (KPA) said on October 1 that it has decided to withdraw a special achievement award it had planned to present to Park Yu-ha, emeritus professor at Sejong University and author of “Comfort Women of the Japanese Empire: Colonial Rule and Battle over Memory.” Park stirred controversy with claims in her book that the wartime Japanese military’s “comfort women” system was a form of prostitution and that there had been no forced mobilization by the Japanese military. While the KPA initially praised Park for her dedication to protecting academic and publishing freedom, criticism that the award insulted victims and undermined the moral integrity of Korea’s publishing industry quickly outweighed that justification.

The decision came after the KPA convened an emergency board meeting at 4 p.m. that day. The association also canceled the award planned for Jeong Jong-joo, head of the publishing house Puriwaipari, which released Park’s book.

Previously, on September 29, the KPA said that it would honor Park and Jeong with a special achievement award during the 39th Book Day ceremony and awards for Contributions to Publishing Culture to be held on October 13 at the Korea Press Center in Seoul.

In “Comfort Women of the Japanese Empire: Colonial Rule and Battle over Memory,” first published in 2013, Park argued that the so-called comfort women were prostitutes and maintained “comradely” relationships with Japanese soldiers, while denying the existence of forced mobilization under military command. In December 2015, prosecutors indicted her on charges of defaming victims. A district court acquitted her in 2017, but an appellate court later ruled that some passages were false and fined her 10 million won.

In October 2023, however, the Supreme Court overturned that ruling, saying her statements did not amount to punishable defamation. The Seoul High Court later acquitted her, and prosecutors dropped their appeal, finalizing her innocence. In July this year, a previous injunction requiring certain passages to be removed before publication or distribution was also lifted.

The KPA explained its initial reasoning, saying it had received a recommendation letter that described how Park “fought a fierce legal battle for more than 11 years due to lawsuits seeking to ban the publication and sale of her book, and in 2025 was ultimately recognized for her devotion to safeguarding academic freedom and freedom of the press.” The award, the association stressed, was intended to highlight freedom of scholarship and publishing.

Still, social criticism grew far louder. Many argued it was inappropriate to honor Park and her publisher while Japan has yet to issue a full apology for its wartime atrocities, and that her book distorted the gravity of wartime sexual violence by siding with Japan. Critics said the harm caused by the book far outweighed the formal grounds of her acquittal. Some commentators also suggested the controversy reflected lingering shadows of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, often criticized as “pro-Japan,” even under the new Lee Jae-myung government.

The Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan denounced the KPA’s plan in a statement on September 30, calling it “outrageous.” “Even if the courts ultimately acquitted her on legal grounds, denying established history and driving nails into the hearts of the victims can never be considered innocent,” the group said. It added, “At a time when historical denials and insults against the victims are at their peak, it is unfathomable that the author of a book the victims themselves sued over was chosen as an award recipient.”

The KPA apologized, saying, “We failed to deeply grasp the painful history of our people under Japanese colonial rule, the suffering of the comfort women, and the pain and anger of those who have stood in solidarity with them. We offer our sincere apologies not only to the victims and the public, but also to all who have worked alongside them in sympathy and support.”