hankyoreh

Atsushi Okamoto, the former editor-in-chief of Sekai, author Kei Nakagawa, and Director General Hideki Yano of the Joint Action for Resolving the Issue of Forced Labor Mobilization and Facing History, give a press briefing regarding the issue of Japan’s wartime forced labor in Tokyo on Jan. 16. (Kim So-youn/The Hankyoreh)

The governments in South Korea and Japan are speeding up their efforts to resolve the issue of compensation for victims of forced labor under Japanese occupation in order to normalize bilateral relations. However, public concern in both countries has been growing about what many are calling a “hasty solution” to this major historical issue.

On Monday, Japanese civil society issued a joint statement opposing the resolution proposed by the two governments, calling it a plan that “ignores victims.”

The South Korean and Japanese governments should pay close attention to the reasons those who have worked so hard for decades to improve bilateral relations are concerned about plans or solutions that exclude an apology and direct compensation by offending Japanese companies.

“A plan in which the defendant company does not apologize and does not even pay 1 yen in compensation cannot be called a solution,” the joint statement stated, urging the Japanese government and responsible companies to actively apologize and compensate the victims.

Monday’s joint statement was signed by 94 individuals, including Japanese lawyers, journalists, civil society figures, and scholars such as Haruki Wada, a professor emeritus at Tokyo University.

On Thursday, South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced a plan in which victims of forced mobilization during Japan’s occupation would be compensated with donations from South Korean companies, rather than from the Japanese companies responsible.

As a result, Japanese civil society, which has long been supportive of the victims of forced mobilization, has taken a public stance against this plan.

“A solution that cannot be accepted by the victims who have been fighting for decades is not a solution,” they emphasized.

In connection with the 2018 South Korean Supreme Court ruling ordering Japanese companies to pay compensation for their part in the forced mobilization, the two countries are now reportedly discussing ways to quickly wrap up the issue by letting South Korean companies carry out the financial compensation instead.

As a result, Japan would lift the export restrictions it imposed on Korea back in 2019 and reaffirm past government statements made regarding historical issues between South Korea and Japan.

The background behind all this haste is the issue of trilateral security cooperation between South Korea, Japan and the US. In fact, after announcing a solution to the forced mobilization issue by this spring, the South Korean government plans to speed up trilateral cooperation through President Yoon Suk-yeol’s visit to Japan.

On Friday, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also emphasized in a speech in the US that he would “resolve the bilateral issues of concern as quickly as possible” between Japan and Korea and enhance security cooperation in the face of the North Korean threat.

Although trilateral cooperation is necessary for responding to the security situation, South Korea must adhere to clear principles. Seoul is bound to face serious backlash if it hastily covers up issues of the past, which are entangled in complex history and politics.

A sincere apology from the Japanese companies responsible, which victims have been demanding for decades, is the minimum requirement for a solution.

“The Japanese government should not say everything is fine just because they apologized in the past. A genuine apology is about acknowledging facts, apologizing, compensating, and trying not to repeat the same mistakes.”

Both the South Korean and Japanese governments should not ignore this candid advice by Atsushi Okamoto, the former editor-in-chief of the Japanese opinion journal Sekai, which he shared at the press conference on Monday.

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]