South Korea says local foundation to pay compensation to war time labor victims

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) - In a major headway in ending a decades-long wartime labor dispute with Japan, South Korea on Monday announced it will pay the victims through a local foundation.

Foreign Minister Park Jin formally announced the proposal, expressing hope that the Japanese government “will offer a comprehensive” apology and the Japanese firms will make "voluntary contributions to the foundation.”

Japan is yet to respond to the proposal.

Under the proposal, the South Korean government through the Foundation for Victims of Forced Mobilization, which is an affiliate of the country’s Interior Ministry, “will collect voluntary donations from the private sector,” Yonhap News reported.

“The glass is half full and it could be filled more in accordance with Tokyo's sincere response,” Park said, responding to criticism that the Yoon administration’s offer “lacks direct participation by the accused Japanese companies.”

In 2018, a South Korean court asked Japanese firms to pay compensation to the victims of forced labor.

Tokyo rejected the ruling and said the issue was resolved in the past.

President Yoon said the step to compensate wartime forced labor victims was "a determination aimed at moving toward a future-oriented relationship with Japan."

​​​​​​​- Tense relations

In 2019, both countries imposed trade restrictions against each other that further dented the relations between Seoul and Tokyo.

However, the administration of President Yoon Suk Yeol, who took office in May last year, was working to improve ties with Tokyo as both countries face a growing threat from North Korea.

The South Korean foundation may also compensate other plaintiffs “who win pending cases.”

The apparent improvement in bilateral ties comes as the two nations, close allies of the US in the Asia-Pacific region, mull cooperation against North Korea.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had told a visiting South Korean delegation last year that “strategic cooperation” between Tokyo and Seoul was “needed more than ever.”

“Given that the rules-based international order is threatened, strategic cooperation between Japan and South Korea, as well as Japan, the US, and South Korea are needed more than ever,” Kishida had told the delegation sent by South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk Yeol.

Seoul is expected to generate funds for the foundation from South Korean companies that benefited from the 1965 bilateral treaty -- under which Tokyo offered $300 million in grants to Seoul.

Tokyo has since stressed that all reparation issues were solved after the treaty was signed.

Bilateral ties between the Asian nations, allies of the US in the region, have nosedived due to issues stemming from Japan’s colonial rule over the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945.

Seoul has demanded restitution from Tokyo for what it refers to as “wartime forced labor.” Tokyo considers the issue to have been resolved in the past.

Several victims and groups have, however, protested the Yoon administration’s plans.