March 8, 2023

The South Korean government on March 6 announced that in place of Japanese companies, it will itself shoulder the compensation payments through a government-affiliated foundation. The announcement came in response to the South Korean Supreme Court ruling in 2018 which ordered several Japanese corporations to pay compensation to wartime Korean forced laborers.

The former laborers have long been claiming that only after the Japanese government and the companies concerned offer apologies can their honor and dignity be restored.

The Japanese government and Japanese corporations, however, have refused to compensate the victims on the grounds that any right to claim "was settled completely and finally" under the 1965 Japan-ROK Agreement Concerning the Settlement of Problems in Regard to Property and Claims.

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo in December 2018 visited the South Korean presidential office as a member of the Japan-ROK Parliamentarians' Union. He said, "The use of Koreans as forced laborers was a serious human rights violation associated with Japan's past colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula. It is important for both Japan and South Korea to make efforts together in order to help restore Korean victims' honor and dignity based on the spirit of the 1998 Tokyo-Seoul Partnership Declaration which states 'remorse over Japan's colonial rule'."

He also said, "Even if all issues related to property and claims were settled under the 1965 Agreement, the individual right to claim compensation is still valid. The Japanese government itself admits to this point in its response to Diet questions. In that respect,
both the Japanese and South Korean governments agree with each other. I hope the two governments will hold dialogue in a calm manner to yield forward-looking solutions so that the victims' honor and dignity can be restored."

In accordance with the 1998 Declaration, the two governments need to make sincere efforts to improve bilateral relations, including settling the issue of wartime Korean laborers.

Past related article:
> Dialogue in sincere manner is important: JCP Kokuta in meeting with S. Korean parliamentarians [August 1, 2019]