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Attorneys representing Korean victims of forced labor under Japanese firms during the colonial occupation head to Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal headquarters in Tokyo on Dec. 4

On the first day of the “Reiwa” era with Crown Prince Naruhito taking the throne as Japan’s new emperor, survivors of forced labor during Japan’s colonial occupation of Korea began final procedures to seize assets from Japanese companies implicated in war crimes by converting the companies’ stocks in South Korea into cash.

Legal representatives of victims of forced mobilization by Nippon Steel (now Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal) and Fujikoshi announced on May 1 that they had “submitted disposal order applications to Pohang District Court for 194,794 shares in PNR (face value 974 million won, or US$838,010) owned by Nippon Steel and to Ulsan District Court for 76,500 shares in Daesung Nachi Hydraulics (face value 765 million won, or US$658,240) owned by Fujikoshi.” The two companies’ shares were seized in March following a South Korean Supreme Court ruling ordering compensation to victims of forced labor mobilization. The applications demanded the disposal of the seized shares and their conversion into cash to obtain the damages recognized by the Supreme Court.

The courts must make a decision on the disposal after completing questioning procedures to determine the action’s appropriateness. Pohang District Court indicated that a “decision to order the disposal will be made [immediately], given that there has already been a Supreme Court ruling.” The cash conversion process is expected to take upwards of three months, given the time needed for the South Korean court to deliver the disposal order to Nippon Steel.

While the disposal procedures have been set in motion, the objections from Nippon Steel – echoing the position of the Japanese government – suggest more time may be needed before the final sale. Another hearing to determine the disposal’s appropriateness would be required if Nippon Steel lodges objections during the unlisted stock appraisal and disposal announcement process. Nippon Steel previously declared during the asset seizure procedures that it would “respond based on discussions with the Japanese government.”

The first lawsuit by victims of forced labor mobilization came 19 years ago with an action against Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for International Workers’ Day on May 1, 2000.

“The elderly survivors are focused less on converting [the shares] into cash and are placing more importance on urging Japanese companies to apologize and provide compensation during their [the survivors’] lifetimes,” said Yang Kee-ho, professor at Sungkonghoe University.

“It’s a situation now where the South Korean government needs to move proactively to devise a solution,” Yang said.

He also predicted Japan would “object strenuously to the disposal order application, given that it took place on the same day that the new emperor ascended to the throne.”

“In terms of South Korea-Japan relations, it’s an untenable situation where the government needs to play a role. The situation where it could leave things to the judiciary and the survivors has already passed,” he said.

In March, Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso raised the possibility of retaliatory actions if the stock disposal or other compulsory execution measures proceed, including suspensions of visa issuance and remittances for South Koreans. According to the NHK network, Kenji Kanasugi, director-general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry’s Asian-Oceanian Affairs Bureau, lodged a protest the same day with the South Korean Embassy in Japan, insisting that it was “unacceptable for the plaintiffs to proceed asset disposal procedures while [South Korea] has failed to reply to the [dispute resolution] agreement according to the Japan-South Korean Claims Settlement Agreement.” The Japanese Embassy in South Korea raised similar objections to the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The victims’ legal representatives left open the possibility of negotiation.

“Given that it takes upwards of three months to actually convert [the shares] into cash, we hope the companies that perpetrated forced mobilization will acknowledge the historical truth that they subjected the victims to slave-like labor and apologize to them,” they said.

By Jang Ye-ji and Park Min-hee, staff reporters, and Cho Ki-weon, Tokyo correspondent

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