Seoul announces plan to compensate victims of Japan wartime forced labour --- Kang Jin-kyu, Agence France-Presse

SEOUL - South Korea announced plans Monday to compensate victims of Japan's forced wartime labor, but without direct Japanese involvement, as Seoul seeks closer ties with Tokyo to counter Pyongyang. South Korea and Japan are both key regional security allies of the United States, but bilateral ties have long been strained over Tokyo's brutal 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean peninsula. Around 780,000 Koreans were conscripted into forced labor by Japan during the 35-year occupation, according to data from Seoul, not including women forced into sexual slavery by Japanese troops. Foreign Minister Park Jin outlined plans for a South Korean foundation to compensate victims and their families, saying: "I hope Japan will positively respond to our major decision today with Japanese companies' voluntary contributions and a comprehensive apology." Japanese media had previously reported that the country's firms could voluntarily provide donations, while Tokyo is expected to express remorse over the forced labour issue, as it has done in the past. Tokyo insists a 1965 treaty -- which saw the two countries restore diplomatic ties with a reparations package of about $800 million in grants and cheap loans -- settled all claims between the two relating to the colonial period. The Seoul government's new plan will use a local foundation to accept donations from major South Korean companies -- which benefitted from the 1965 reparations package from Japan -- to compensate victims. Park said the landmark deal was key to improving ties between Tokyo and Seoul. "Cooperation between Korea and Japan is very important in all areas of diplomacy, economy, and security amid the current grave international situation and complex global crisis," he said. "I believe that the vicious circle should be broken for the sake of the people at the national interest level, rather than leaving the strained relationship unattended for a long time." - Sex slaves deal - The move to resolve the forced labour issue follows years of disputes over World War II sex slaves, which had soured Japan-South Korea ties. Seoul and Tokyo reached a deal in 2015 aimed at "finally and irreversibly" resolving that issue, with a Japanese apology and the formation of a 1 billion yen fund for survivors. But South Korea later backed away from the deal and effectively nullified it, citing the lack of victims' consent. The move led to a bitter diplomatic dispute that spread to affect trade and security ties. Park said the move to resolve lingering wartime disputes offered "a window of opportunity for a new history for both Korea and Japan, going beyond antagonism and conflict and moving toward the future". "If we compare it to a glass of water, I think that the glass is more than half full. And I think the glass will be filled up further depending on Japan's sincere response which will follow." He said the plan had the support of many victims' families, and said they would "thoroughly update" all affected victims, and "see them one by one and consult with them and seek their understanding sincerely". But the plan has already drawn strong protest from victims groups, who want financial compensation and an apology directly from the Japanese companies involved. They had won cases on this very issue in 2018, when Seoul's Supreme Court ordered for some Japanese companies to pay compensation over forced wartime labour. "It is as if the bonds of the victims of forced labour are being dissolved through South Korean companies' money," Lim Jae-sung, a lawyer for several victims, said in a Facebook post on Sunday. "It is a complete victory for Japan, which can't spare even one yen on the issue of forced labour." kjk-sh/ceb/dhc

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more