Japan praises Korean-led solution to forced labor issue, but mum on follow-up

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi attends a press conference at Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's official residence in Tokyo, Japan on Dec. 14, 2023. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

The Japanese government said Wednesday it has a positive view of the Korean-led solution to the Japanese forced labor compensation issue announced a year ago Wednesday, noting it has contributed to improving bilateral relations.

However, it did not mention any follow-up measures to Korea's plan to establish a Seoul-funded public foundation, such as the participation of Japanese companies in the compensation of Korean forced labor victims mobilized during World War II.

“With the implementation of measures on the issue of conscripted workers, dialogue and cooperation between Korea and Japan have escaped the stagnation period and are expanding vigorously in both quality and quantity in various fields such as politics, security, economy, and culture,” Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said during a press conference Wednesday.

"Conscripted workers" is how Japan refers to wartime forced laborers.

“Under the current difficult strategic environment, cooperation between Korea, the United States and Japan is also progressing at multiple levels,” said Hayashi. “This expansion of cooperation was made possible through the efforts of both Korea and Japan and is meaningful in contributing to Japan’s strategic interests.”

However, the Japanese government made no mention of follow-up measures on the part of Japan to the Korean government’s announced solution to the forced labor issue.

When asked about lingering concerns about securing funding from foundations under the Korean government to implement the forced labor solution and responding to some plaintiffs who reject the solution, Hayashi simply answered that “a response in accordance with the measures announced by the Korean government in March last year” would be implemented.

“The Japanese government will continue to communicate closely with Korea on various issues, including conscripted workers, and strive to ensure that the people of both countries continue to feel the improvement in Korea-Japan relations,” Hayashi said.

The Japanese government has issued protests every time the Korean Supreme Court has doled out rulings recognizing Japanese companies responsible for forced labor, beginning in 2018 when the court upheld its previous ruling in favor of 15 plaintiffs — including both victims and their relatives — involved in three cases.

The Japanese government called the Korean Supreme Court’s ruling “extremely regrettable and absolutely unacceptable as it clearly violates the Agreement on the Settlement of the Problem Concerning Property and Claims and the Economic Cooperation between the Republic of Korea and Japan,” referring to the 1965 deal that Japan argues settled all damages claims from the colonial era.

On March 6 last year, the Korean government announced a “third-party reimbursement” solution that would pay compensation owed by Japanese companies to victims of forced labor with money raised by the Foundation for Victims of Forced Mobilization by Imperial Japan.

Korea's proposal paved the way for President Yoon Suk Yeol's summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo, which led to a thaw in deteriorated bilateral ties and a resumption of shuttle diplomacy between the two countries.

However, contrary to Korea’s expectations, Japanese companies have not participated in fund-raising.

“If progress is made in resolving the forced labor issue, we think that Japan will also respond favorably,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lim Soo-suk said Tuesday.

On Feb. 20, a forced wartime labor victim received compensation worth 60 million won ($44,940) deposited by Japanese company Hitachi Zosen, which deposited the sum with the Korean courts in January 2019 as collateral to prevent compulsory execution.

It was the first case of a victim of forced labor receiving any payment from a Japanese company in compensation.

The Japanese government summoned the Korean ambassador to Japan on Feb. 21, protesting that the withdrawal of the deposit violated the Agreement on the Settlement of Problems Concerning Property and Claims and on Economic Cooperation between Japan and the Republic of Korea.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]