SKorea-Japan deal on sex slavery dismissed

South Korea's Constitutional Court on Friday dismissed a case brought to review the constitutionality of a deal between South Korea and Japan over victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery.

The case had been filed by victims and their families against the South Korean government over the controversial deal reached by Seoul and Tokyo in 2015 on the issue of compensations for Japan's wartime sex slaves, so-called "comfort women."

By dismissing the case, the court decided not to rule on the constitutionality of the deal.

Speaking outside the court, a lawyer for some of the former sex slaves described the outcome of the case as "disappointing".

Earlier in December, a review of historical documents by Kyodo News service suggested that during World War II Japan's army asked the government to provide one sex slave for every 70 soldiers.

The expressed purpose of the so-called "comfort women" system was to prevent the spread of disease and curtail rapes among soldiers.

The number of sex slaves is not certain, but historians say they numbered in the tens of thousands or more.