Japan Press Weekly

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2023 October 18 - 24 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

LDP Sugita’s blog post insulting Koreans in Japan recognized as human rights violation

The Judicial Ministry’s Osaka Legal Affairs Bureau recognized that Liberal Democratic Party member of the House of Representatives Sugita Mio’s social media post discriminating against Koreans in Japan constitutes a human rights violation, Akahata learned on October 19.

The legal bureau made this decision in response to a complaint filed by three Korean women living in Osaka Prefecture.

Sugita in 2016, at the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women held in Geneva, took a photograph of the three women wearing chima jeogori, a traditional garb worn by Korean women. She posted on social media, including her blog, the photo with a statement describing them as “middle-aged cosplayers”.

At a press conference on October 19 in the LDP head office, when asked for a comment on the legal bureau’s decision, Sugita said, “No comment,” and added that she already deleted the post in question and apologized in regard to this matter.

Past related article:
> LDP Sugita’s social media post insulting Ainu is human rights violation [September 25, 2023]