To improve ties with Japan, South Korea plans to compensate wartime labor through local funds

ANKARA (AA) – Amid ongoing efforts to revitalize the strained bilateral relations with Japan, South Korea is now considering compensating wartime labor through a public foundation, local media said on Thursday.

However, the victims and civic groups rejected the plan and said the issue is not about money but about addressing past human rights violations by Japan, Yonhap News Agency reported.

Under the government’s plan, a third-party entity can compensate the victims on behalf of the accused Japanese companies and the Seoul-based Foundation for Victims of Forced Mobilization by imperial Japan was an ideal option.

The foundation will compensate the plaintiffs through funds created by local firms without Japanese involvement.

During Thursday’s public hearing at the National Assembly, Seo Min-jung, director general for Asia and Pacific Affairs at Seoul's Foreign Ministry, said due to the difficulties of forcing Japanese companies to pay compensation, there is a need for a "creative approach" and suggested that the fund may be created without Japanese involvement, according to the agency.

She also informed the lawmakers that government officials will meet with individual plaintiffs and surviving family members to brief them on the plan and seek their consent.

However, the victim groups opposed the plan and said the approach is against the court verdict.

"If the South Korean government accepts donations from local companies for compensation, it is as if the government is acknowledging Japan's position that the Supreme Court ruling was wrong," said Lee Guk-eon, head of a civic group supporting the victims.

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

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.

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, is trying to improve ties with Tokyo as both countries face a growing threat from North Korea.

In November last year, Yoon met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Cambodia for the first time and agreed to resolve all pending issues between the two countries.

Meanwhile, Tokyo is also "considering allowing Japanese firms to donate" to the South Korean fund as compensation to wartime labor plaintiffs on behalf of Japanese defendant companies, Kyodo News reported.

"Japan plans to make it a condition for the South Korean fund to give up on demanding money from the companies, which have been ordered by South Korean courts to compensate the plaintiffs," Japanese sources said.

However, the report added, Tokyo is "unlikely to offer an additional apology for its past colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula and related issues and is expected to stand by its past statements."

* Writing by Islamuddin Sajid