According to a government proposal, South Korea wants to pay compensation for forced labor under Japanese occupation. "The strained relations between Japan and South Korea can no longer be neglected," Foreign Minister Park Jin said on Monday. "We must break this vicious circle in the national interest and for the people."
According to the new plans, former forced laborers are to be compensated through a public fund into which private donations are to flow. Seoul is expected to call on South Korean companies to contribute to donations to the fund. Japanese companies are not obliged to pay there, but can contribute voluntarily.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida welcomed the proposal and said he wanted to work closely with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol. US President Joe Biden said it was a groundbreaking new chapter in the relationship between two of the United States' closest allies.
Victims' associations: "A day of shame"
Victims and opposition in South Korea, on the other hand, reacted with criticism. The government capitulates to Japan. "This is a day of shame," said the spokesman for the Democratic Party. It was a victory for Japan across the board, wrote a lawyer for the victims on Facebook.
The two countries have been arguing for decades about compensation for South Koreans who had to perform forced labor during the Japanese occupation from 1910 to 1945 or were deported to forced brothels. Japan considers the issue settled by a 1965 treaty. In 2018, however, the Supreme Court ordered Japanese companies to pay compensation. As a result, there was an export dispute between Japan and South Korea. Japan, for example, restricted the supply of high-tech goods to South Korean corporations, while South Korea revoked Japan's right to accelerated export procedures.