Forced labor victims to discuss special legislation at forum

Forced labor victims and their relatives attend a forum hosted by the Foreign Ministry in Seoul on Jan. 12. Some are holding signs calling for an apology from the Japanese government. [NEWS1]

The Foundation for Victims of Forced Mobilization by Imperial Japan is hosting a forum with hundreds of forced labor victims next month to collect their thoughts on what they would like included in special legislation to acknowledge the victims.

Around 400 forced labor victims or their relatives, a majority of whom are uninvolved with the ongoing Supreme Court case on liquidating Japanese corporate assets to compensate victims, are expected to attend, the JoongAng Ilbo reported exclusively on Thursday.

The hearing will be hosted from Feb. 21 to 23, at the Franciscan Education Center in Jung District, central Seoul, according to the foundation.

The forum will not focus on ongoing court cases in Korea.

As many as 200 forced labor victims and their relatives were involved in legal rows with Japanese companies after suing them for compensation.

So far, only 15 are involved in the landmark rulings at the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court in Korea on Oct. 30, 2018 ordered Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal, renamed Nippon Steel, to pay 100 million won ($81,095) each to Korean victims of Japanese forced labor during World War II.

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 through a treaty with Korea in 1965.

Japan gave Korea $300 million in economic aid and $500 million in loans with that treaty.

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.

In an attempt to salvage the worsening relations with Tokyo since the Supreme Court rulings, the Foreign Ministry since last year has stepped into the role of negotiator between the victims and Japan, proposing a different legal solution than liquidation of the Japanese corporate assets.

The ministry proposed that the Foundation for Victims of Forced Mobilization by Imperial Japan establish a compensation fund to collect donations from Korean corporates.

Contribution from the corporates would be voluntary.

The 15 victims involved in the Supreme Court cases rejected the proposal.

Next month's forum hosted by the Foundation for Victims of Forced Mobilization by Imperial Japan will collect the forced labor victims’ opinions about what to include in special legislation that would officially recognize the sacrifices of the victims and possibly compensate them.

There have been government proposals to compensate the victims unilaterally from the Korean side, but they were sporadic and not comprehensive.

From 1975 to 1977, the government provided some 300,000 won in compensation per victim who died doing forced labor in Japan.

A total of 8,552 victims were compensated.

The Foundation for Victims of Forced Mobilization by Imperial Japan places the total number of Koreans forcibly mobilized by Japan on the Korean Peninsula, in Japan and parts of China between 1910 and 1945 at 7,534,429.

At least 1,815 forced labor victims were still alive as of 2022, a drastic drop from around 2,400 in 2021, according to the Foreign Ministry.

Many of the victims are in their 80s and 90s.

The forum next month will not invite government officials or experts, which was what the Foreign Ministry did in the forum it hosted on Jan. 12 to gauge public opinion on possible options to resolve the forced labor issue.

The forum, however, descended into chaos as different victims’ groups and civic groups clashed in trying to air their opinions during the question-and-answer session at the end.

Shim Gyu-seon, director of the Foundation for Victims of Forced Mobilization by Imperial Japan, had insisted at the forum on Jan. 12 that special legislation to cover all victims would be the “only comprehensive solution” to the issue.

BY JEONG JIN-WOO, ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]