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Members of the Peace Nabi Network march from the memorial for forced laborers outside Seoul’s Yongsan Station to the presidential office on March 16 to protest the summit between South Korea and Japan. (Yonhap)

South Korean university students are staging relay demonstrations to protest their government’s recent “solution” to the issue of compensation for victims of forced labor mobilization by Japan, in the wake of a firestorm over remarks Monday by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo.

Speaking about the outcome of a South Korea-Japan summit shortly after the forced labor compensation plan was announced, Han said that the “biggest stone has been cleared away.”

Peace Nabi Network, a federation of university groups, said Tuesday that it planned to hold on-campus demonstrations at 12 universities through April 12. The first of the “relay demonstrations for the withdrawal of the forced labor mobilization solution” is to take place at Chung-Ang University and Kyung Hee University’s international campus, it said.

Explaining the significance of the demonstrations, the network said, “We intend to collect signatures from students at each university to voice our opposition to the forced labor mobilization solution and to reiterate that this problem must be resolved.” The first demonstration started at 1:20 pm on Tuesday in front of Chung-Ang University’s Young-sin Hall.

“Last month, we spoke out about how the South Korea-Japan relationship that our government is calling for is wrong. We read emergency statements on campus with students at 18 schools, and we marched with around 50 students from Yongsan Station to the presidential office,” the group said.

“In spite of that, President Yoon Suk-yeol has repeatedly made outrageous remarks defending the Japanese government’s position,” it added.

It went on to say, “If we simply stand by and do nothing about the president’s skewed historical attitudes, they will go ahead with a rough-and-ready forced labor mobilization ‘solution’ that cuts the victims out.”

After the government’s March 6 announcement of its plan for resolving the forced labor compensation issue, Peace Nabi Network held demonstrations at 18 schools, which included the reading of emergency statements with students.

The plan announced by the South Korean government would have compensation provided by a third party, the Foundation for Victims of Forced Mobilization by Imperial Japan, to victims who received a final Supreme Court decision in their favor. This approach would not involve any apology or participation by the Japanese companies that took advantage of forced labor.

As of Monday, a total of 156 Chung-Ang University students had signed on — far more than the target of 100 names. Around 400 students each signed on at Seoul Women’s University and Sookmyung Women’s University ahead of demonstrations respectively scheduled for Thursday and Friday.

The relay demonstrations are to be held at 12 universities through April 12, including eight in the city of Seoul, two more in Gyeonggi Province, and one each in Gangwon Province and Jeju Province.

By Yoon Yeon-jeong, staff reporter

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