Guilty in Wartime Labor

The Supreme Court in Republic of Korea dismissed appeals of Nippon Steel and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in the case of demanding compensation for the damage by the coercive labor in the wartime, which had been brought by former Korean workers. The court order, which demanded two Japanese companies compensation to the victims, was finally reconfirmed. The government of Japan criticized the decision of ROK Supreme Court as unacceptable. Is that it? 

Agreement on the Settlement of Problem between Japan and ROK in 1965 declared that any claims were settled. “The Contracting Parties confirm that problem concerning property, rights, and interests of the two Contracting Parties and their nationals --- is settled completely and finally,” describes Article 2 of the agreement. The government of Japan has been keeping its position that all the disputes of Korean people over the compensation in the wartime were settled by the agreement.

 

ROK Supreme Court drew a new interpretation in 2012, in which the court admitted the right of disputing on compensation for the damage related to the colonial rule, because the plaintiffs had been the victims of inhumane illegal activities of Japanese corporations. The court decided for the first time in 2018 that Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries needed to compensate for the damage of forced labor. The government of Japan did not change its attitude that the compensation had been settled.

 

As Japanese corporations had been refusing payment for the compensation, ROK President, Yoon Suk Yeol, made a political decision in March this year that a governmental foundation would pay for the compensation, instead of Japanese government. Yoon’s solution has been receiving criticisms from the plaintiffs who require apology and seek responsibility of Japanese government.

 

The decision of this month basically succeeded the one in 2018. The court supported the decision of an appeal court which had ordered Nippon Steel and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to pay 100 to 150 million won a person to eleven plaintiffs. “We recognize that the issue had been settled by the agreement in 1965 and we firmly regret about the court decision, which violates the agreement,” told Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan, Yoshimasa Hayashi.

 

The government of Japan has rigorously been keeping the same position, depending on ROK government to settle the issue. However, there will be coming up other similar lawsuits and the foundation ROK government established is worried about the shortage of financial resource. To exacerbate the bilateral relationship between Japan and ROK, which is on its way to the improvement in the time when security environment in Northeast Asia is getting severe, is apparently erodes national interest of Japan. As long as the dispute has not been settled, Japanese government needs to have close consultation with ROK government to completely and finally settle the issue.

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