Korea may disclose its forced labor solution this month

Diplomacy

Published: 02 Jan. 2023, 19:47

Korea may disclose its forced labor solution this month

Yang Geum-deok, a 94-year-old victim of Japanese forced labor, speaks with the press in Gwangju on Dec. 26 to protest one of Foreign Ministry's options to resolve the compensation dispute with Japan. [YONHAP]

Korea will hold a public hearing to propose options to compensate victims of Japanese forced labor, the Foreign Ministry announced Monday.

"The government has been gathering various opinions from all walks of life in Korea through discussions with victims and through public-private council meetings," the ministry said in a statement. "Soon, we will host a discussion forum of a wider scope."

The ministry statement came a day after news reports in Tokyo said Korea could propose a solution to the issue in January.

“A likely solution would be for South Korea's Foundation for Victims of Forced Mobilization by Imperial Japan, which supports former forced laborers, to solicit donations from South Korean companies,” the Sankei Shimbun reported on Sunday. “It is expected that this proposal will be presented at a public hearing [in Korea].”

The report cited a visit by Seo Min-jung, director general for Asia and Pacific affairs of the Foreign Ministry, to Tokyo on Dec. 26 to meet with Japanese officials, adding that the Korean delegation had indicated to Japan that it intends to “announce a solution as early as January.”

The ministry on Monday did not comment on a specific deadline for a decision.

In an attempt to resolve the lengthy dispute with Tokyo on the issue of compensation for Korean forced laborers, many of whom are in their 90s, the ministry has been negotiating with both victims and Japan.

One of the options the ministry is considering is to have the Foundation for Victims of Forced Mobilization by Imperial Japan create a fund to take Korean corporate donations to compensate the victims.

Forced labor victims have been against this proposal.

“We are strongly against this idea, which is all about giving Japan and its companies an easy way out,” a civic group representing some victims said in a statement last week.

Yang Geum-deok, a 94-year-old victim of Japanese forced labor, is a member of that group. Yang and four other victims sued Japanese companies in October 2012 for compensation. She is one of some 220,000 Koreans who were forced to work in Japan during the 1910-45 Japanese annexation of Korea, according to a fact-finding committee created by the Prime Minister’s Office.

A landmark ruling on the case came on Oct. 30, 2018, when the Korean Supreme Court ordered Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal, renamed Nippon Steel, to pay 100 million won ($78,590) each to Korean victims of Japanese forced labor. The Supreme Court made a similar ruling on Nov. 29, 2018 against Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

Japan protested the decision, claiming that all compensation issues related to its colonial rule were resolved with a treaty with Korea in 1965. The deal saw Japan give Korea $300 million in economic aid and $500 million in loans.

Korea’s top court acknowledged the illegality of Japan’s colonial rule and recognized that individuals' rights to compensation had not expired.

Both Nippon Steel and Mitsubishi refused to comply with the top court's decisions, and the victims filed another case requesting the liquidation of assets of two Japanese companies to compensate forced labor victims.

The Supreme Court in Korea has yet to rule on the latest case.

The rift between the Foreign Ministry and the victims group started to become more prominent when the ministry in August 2022 submitted an argument to the court to take into account the diplomatic efforts the ministry was making to try to reach a solution with Japan when deciding on its ruling.

Several victims at the time expressed disappointment at the ministry’s action, describing feelings of betrayal.

The issue has put Korea-Japan relations in the deep freeze in recent years.

Following the Supreme Court ruling in 2018, Japan implemented export restrictions on three high-tech materials crucial for Korea’s semiconductor and display industries and removed Korea from its list of preferred trading partners.

Korea responded in August 2019 by threatening to pull out of a military intelligence-sharing pact with Japan, the General Security of Military Information Agreement.

BY ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]