In a bid to ease trade and military relations with Japan, South Korea on Monday announced a plan to compensate the Korean victims of Japan’s wartime forced labour.
Overview
South Korean Foreign Minister (FM) Park Jin told a news conference that the victims would be compensated through a local foundation, which would be funded by private-sector companies that were beneficiaries of a 1965 reparations treaty that normalised relations with Japan.
South Korea and Japan are at a “new window of opportunity” to overcome their conflicts and build future-oriented relations, Park said.
This could be a major diplomatic breakthrough in South Korea-Japan relations
— Robbie Gramer (@RobbieGramer) March 6, 2023
This issue has plagued the SK-J relationship for years https://t.co/5PGuOLq1bb
He added that the “soured” relations “should no longer be neglected,” and the two sides “need to end the vicious cycle for the national interest, for the people.”
The FM also expressed hope that Japan would respond sincerely, including by “implementing its previous public statements expressing remorse and apology.”
Historic Plan
US President Joe Biden welcomed the announcement, saying he looked forward to “enhance the trilateral ties” between the three countries.
The leaders of Japan and South Korea “are taking a critical step to forge a future for the Korean and Japanese people that is safer, more secure, and more prosperous,” Biden said in a statement. He added that such a step will help them “uphold and advance [their] shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
Meanwhile, Japanese FM Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters that Tokyo “appreciates” Seoul’s proposal. He further noted that it was “not based on the assumption that Japanese companies will contribute” to the fund.
Backlash
The Yoon Suk-yeol government’s new plan drew immediate backlash from victims of the atrocity, who criticised the government for not demanding direct compensation from the Japanese companies, in addition to a fresh apology.
Lim Jae-sung, a lawyer who represented some of the plaintiffs, wrote on Facebook following that plan’s announcement that the move was “an absolute win by Japan, which insists it cannot spend 1 yen on the forced labour issue.” “Basically, the money of South Korean companies would be used to erase the forced labourers’ rights to receivables,” he wrote.