South Korea announces plan to compensate victims of forced labor imposed by Japan

South Korea announced a plan on Monday to compensate its citizens who were victims of forced labor imposed by Japan during the war, a move to improve bilateral relations that is not without controversy.

South Korea and Japan They are important US allies in the region, but their bilateral relations are strained by Tokyo’s brutal colonial rule on the Korean peninsula between 1910 and 1945.

Some 780,000 Koreans were conscripted into forced labor during the Japanese occupation, according to South Korean data. This record does not include women subjected to sexual slavery by Japanese soldiers.

The Seoul government’s new plan is to use a local foundation to receive donations from South Korean companies that benefited from Japan’s 1965 reparations package to compensate the victims.

South Korean Foreign Minister park jinHe said he hopes Japan will respond “positively” to the decision and that there will be a voluntary contribution from Japanese companies.

“The cooperation between Korea and Japan It is very important in all areas from diplomacy to the economy and security, in the midst of the serious international situation and the complex global crisis.Park stated.

This new plan offers the opportunity to “create a new history for Korea and Japan, overcoming antagonisms and conflicts in order to move forward”added the official.

Japan reaction

The Japanese Foreign Minister, Yoshimasa Hayashistated that his government “values” the South Korean ad and that it is a form of “restore healthy relationships”.

But he also hinted that Japan will not issue an apology again on this issue.

tokyo insists that a 1965 treaty, under which the two countries restored diplomatic relations with a reparations package of $800 million in grants and soft loans, settled all colonial-era claims.

The White House celebrated “a revolutionary new chapter of cooperation and partnershipbetween the two countries.

Likewise, the head of US diplomacy, Antony Blinken, applauded the plan and said he was “inspired by the work that (both countries) have done to boost their bilateral relations.”

The Japanese press had previously reported that firms in the country could make donations to the foundation.

But this plan has drawn criticism from victim groups, who are demanding financial compensation and a direct apology from the Japanese companies involved.

In 2018, the South Korean Supreme Court ordered some Japanese companies to pay compensation for forced labor during the occupation.

In 2019, Japan it imposed controls on exports of key raw materials for the semiconductor and display industry, and removed South Korea from the list of nations with trade preferences.

As a sign of goodwill, South Korea announced Monday that it is suspending a complaint filed with the World Trade Organization (WTO) pending a bilateral dialogue to lift the restrictions.

“The importance of today’s announcement will be largely measured by what Japan does next.said Benjamin A. Engel, a scholar at Seoul National University.

But one of the victims Yang Geum-deok told the Yonhap news agency that they have to apologize first.

“I will not accept money that appears to be the product of begging“, he claimed.

Disputes between the two countries long centered around the issue of sexual slavery during World War II.

According to historians, up to 200,000 women – mainly Korean – were forced into prostitution in Japanese military brothels.