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| The Foundation for Victims of Forced Mobilization by Imperial Japan's office in Seoul / Yonhap |
Donations grow while victims continue to reject compensation plan
By Park Jae-hyuk
POSCO announced Wednesday that it has decided to "voluntarily" donate an additional 4 billion won ($3 million) to the Foundation for Victims of Forced Mobilization by Imperial Japan, based on its previous promise to give a combined 10 billion won to the foundation.
The steelmaker's announcement came a week after the Korean government said that Korean victims of Japan's forced labor during World War II will be compensated through a fund created by Korean companies, without the direct involvement of the Japanese firms who were originally responsible.
At that time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs unveiled its plan to collect "voluntary" donations from the private sector, in order to pay a combined 4 billion won to 15 victims, who are entitled to receive compensation from two Japanese companies, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Nippon Steel, based on a 2018 Supreme Court order.
"Our board of directors agreed in March 2021 to donate 10 billion won to the foundation, and we payed 3 billion won in 2016 and an additional 3 billion won in 2017," POSCO said in a press release. "Following the recent announcement from the government, we fulfilled our promise with the foundation by donating an additional 4 billion won."
The Korean firm made the payment on the same day that it announced its decision.
This came a day after the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea (AMCHAM) donated to the foundation for the victims of forced labor.
The lobby group for U.S. firms operating in Korea announced on March 8 that it would make the donation to welcome the agreement announced by the Korean and Japanese governments concerning the conclusion of discussions on sensitive historical issues.
"It is true that we made the donation, but we cannot disclose the amount," an AMCHAM spokesperson said. "The latest donation was made under the name of AMCHAM, and our members will decide independently on whether they will make any further donations to the foundation."
On March 10, the Seoul National University Alumni Association also donated 10 million won to the foundation.
Their donations are expected to prompt additional donations from other Korean firms, which benefited from the 1965 treaty with Japan, which normalized diplomatic ties in exchange for economic aid totaling some $500 million.
Such Korean companies include KT, KT&G, the Korea Electric Power Corp., the Korea Expressway Corp. and Korea Exchange Bank, which is currently known as Hana Bank.
However, Korean victims of Japan's forced labor rejected the solution that the government has been pushing ahead with.
Questions are now being raised over the possibility that the 210,000 victims who did not file lawsuits for their wartime forced labor previously, could now seek compensation from the foundation.
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