10 Universities in Japan, South Korea, Mongolia to Establish Academic Community to Promote ICC Activities, Rule of Law

The Yomiuri Shimbun

12:45 JST, January 11, 2026

Ten universities in Japan, South Korea and Mongolia will soon establish an academic community to support the International Criminal Court (ICC) and its activities in pursuing war crimes, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.

The planned community’s secretariat will be headquartered at Keio University in Tokyo, according to sources. It will support the ICC through information dissemination, advising on legislation of various countries and providing human resources, to increase Asian members of the ICC, which is based in The Hague.

Future plans include developing it into an official ICC office in the region.

The initiative will comprise five Japanese universities — Keio University, Doshisha University, Kyoto University, Hitotsubashi University and Utsunomiya University, in addition to four universities in South Korea, including Seoul National University and National University of Mongolia.

As the ICC’s first such framework, the initiative will start its activities in February and be formally organized in April. The European Union also plans to provide operational funding through the ICC.

Experts in international law and war crimes will lead efforts to encourage nonmember states to join the ICC. The community will also strengthen personnel exchanges with the ICC and cooperate in promoting the rule of law, a founding principle of the ICC.

Judge Tomoko Akane has been serving as the ICC’s president since March 2024. However, only 19 out of about 55 countries and regions in Asia and the Pacific are members. With few of its staff members being knowledgeable about Asia, the new initiative is also expected to alleviate personnel shortages.

The ICC is considering establishing regional offices in four locations worldwide. According to sources, the secretariat headquarters to be set up at Keio University could evolve into a regional office for Asia.

The ICC was established in 2002 to address the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia and the genocide in Rwanda. It prosecutes individuals for acts such as genocide and war crimes under international law. Member states are obligated to cooperate in arresting suspects and providing evidence. It currently has 125 members.