Korea to launch council to resolve forced labor issue with Japan

From left, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Japanse Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol pose for a group photo ahead of a Indo-Pacific Partners meeting during the NATO summit in Madrid, June 29. AFP-Yonhap

Gov't seeks diplomatic solutions before Supreme Court ruling

By Jung Min-ho

Korea will launch a council on July 4 to resolve the issue of wartime forced labor ― one of the biggest obstacles blocking the improvement of its relations with Japan.

According to government sources Thursday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is reviewing ways to foster good relations, which soured over the past several years after Korean court rulings that found Japanese companies liable to pay compensation for the victims of forced labor during Japan's colonial rule (1910-45).

With the Supreme Court expected to rule on the statute of limitations on forced labor cases in the coming months, the ministry is scrambling to resolve the issue diplomatically. If it rules in favor of the victims, companies including Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Nippon Steel will have their seized assets in Korea liquidated ― a "red line" Tokyo warned Seoul will regret crossing.

One measure the ministry has considered is establishing a 30 billion won ($23,000) fund to compensate 300 victims. The ministry has urged the victims to voice their needs through the council more actively, while collecting their opinions to set up specific goals.

The most critical and challenging part of the task is to persuade the Japanese government and companies to join it. The Japanese side has maintained that the issue of compensation for forced labor was "settled completely and finally" as part of the two countries' normalization treaty in 1965, 20 years after the liberation of Korea.

Japanese companies will likely remain reluctant to join the fund, given that doing so will undermine the treaty and could result in drawing lawsuits from their shareholders.

Thus, one of the ideas suggested is to raise money from Korean companies that had benefited from the treaty, which included $800m in Japan's grants and loans to Korea, and the Japanese ones that expect obvious and imminent benefits from the improved relations between the two countries.

It will also be important to watch what messages the Japanese government and companies will give to the victims, who are demanding apologies and recognition for unjust treatment they received during the period.

It remains to be seen how far the Japanese government and companies will concede as they have their own challenge of dealing with far-right voices and politicians who cater to them. Experts say, if Japanese leaders are to improve bilateral relations with Korea, they will begin to act after the House of Councillors elections scheduled to be held on July 10.

The ministry's efforts come at a time when President Yoon Suk-yeol and Fumio Kishida, his Japanese counterpart, have exchanged friendly messages at the NATO summit in Madrid. During their meeting at Tuesday's (local time) gala dinner, Yoon told Kishida he would like to build future-oriented bilateral relations between the two countries after resolving issues blocking that path and wished him good luck in the elections. Kishida agreed and expressed appreciation.

Yoon, who had criticized the previous Moon Jae-in administration for politicizing the critical relationship with the Asian neighbor, has showed signs that his government will be different from the prior one as of taking office May 10.

Yet, many old and new issues, including forced labor and Japan's wartime sexual slavery of Korean women, suggest a very bumpy path to rapprochement.

According to a recent poll conducted jointly by the Hankook Ilbo and the Yomiuri Shimbun, 52.9 percent of Koreans said they expect Korea-Japan relations to improve under the new administration, a jump from 28.9 percent last year. In Japan, 31 percent of respondents agreed, an increase from 14 percent.

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