Last holdout accepts 'third-party reimbursement' for forced labor victims
Published: 30 Oct. 2024, 15:31
Updated: 30 Oct. 2024, 17:37
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- KIM MIN-YOUNG
- [email protected]
![Lee Chun-sik's eldest son, Lee Chang-hwan closes his eyes during a press conference held in front of the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul on Wednesday. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2024/10/30/8c27ff3d-bb88-4c94-9b0d-a694fcdc9ee3.jpg)
Lee Chun-sik's eldest son, Lee Chang-hwan closes his eyes during a press conference held in front of the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul on Wednesday. [YONHAP]
Lee Chun-sik, an elderly victim of forced labor during the 1910-45 Japanese colonial rule, accepted the Yoon Suk Yeol administration’s "third-party reimbursement" plan on Wednesday, making him the last surviving victim to do so.
According to the Foundation for Victims of Forced Mobilization by Imperial Japan, which operates under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Lee, 104, received compensation and delayed interest from the foundation according to the Supreme Court's final ruling.
Lee’s decision comes on the heels of acceptance by another elderly victim of forced labor, Yang Geum-deok, of the plan on Oct. 23. Lee is the last victim to accept the government’s plan since the announcement of third-party reimbursement in March of last year.
The third-party reimbursement plan involves the foundation paying the compensation and delayed interest on behalf of the defendant companies to forced labor victims who were awarded compensation in Korea's Supreme Court.
In a landmark ruling on Oct. 30, 2018, the Supreme Court ordered Nippon Steel to pay 100 million won ($72,269) to each Korean victim of Japanese forced labor involved in lawsuits. The Supreme Court ruled similarly against Mitsubishi Heavy Industries on Nov. 29, 2018.
![Lee Chun-sik in his residence in Gwangju on Sept. 2, 2022. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2024/10/30/2d23b819-ead1-4cc9-83d8-e50a6babd453.jpg)
Lee Chun-sik in his residence in Gwangju on Sept. 2, 2022. [YONHAP]
Japan protested the decision, claiming that all compensation issues related to its colonial rule were resolved with a treaty with Korea in 1965. Korea’s top court, however, acknowledged the illegality of Japan’s 1919-45 colonial rule and recognized that individuals' rights to compensation had not expired.
Both Nippon Steel and Mitsubishi refused to comply with the court's decisions, and the victims filed another suit requesting the liquidation of the two Japanese companies' assets to compensate forced labor victims.
The administration came up with the third-party compensation measure last year to revitalize stalled relations with Japan.
At the time the plan was announced, there was a divided response among the forced labor victims and their families, with several survivors expressing strong opposition and others voicing their acceptance of the bilateral agreement.
However, Lee's eldest son, Lee Chang-hwan, raised doubts over his father's decision in a press conference held in front of Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul on Wednesday.
"My father is not in a state to communicate properly," said Lee Chang-hwan. "He was admitted to a nursing home for senility and delirium some time ago. I can't accept that he agreed to the third-party reimbursement plan."
"I will verify who signed and who received the money."
Update, Oct. 30: Added comments by Lee Chang-hwan
BY KIM MIN-YOUNG [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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