SEOUL — South Korea said on Monday it has proposed a solution to one of its most thorny historical disputes with Japan, in the hope of mending a fractured relationship between key US allies.
The government said it has set up a fund to gather capital from Korean businesses and use the money to compensate Koreans who were forced to work by companies in Japan during World War II.
The issue has brought relations between the two countries to one of their lowest points in decades following a 2018 ruling by South Korea’s Supreme Court, which said Japanese companies were responsible for compensating damages. victims of forced labor. Japan insists that such issues have long since been resolved, under a 1965 treaty establishing post-war diplomatic relations.
In a tit-for-tat escalation, Seoul and Tokyo retaliated against each other following the Supreme Court ruling, imposing trade restrictions and boycotting goods. Washington has repeatedly urged the two allies to resolve the dispute and work more closely to deal with regional challenges such as North Korea and China.
President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea, who took office last May, has made improving relations with Japan one of his top diplomatic priorities. His government said on Monday that it hoped Japanese companies that use South Korean forced labor would also contribute to the fund.
So far, Korean courts have awarded 15 victims total compensation of $3 million since the Supreme Court ruling, although Japanese companies have refused to pay the amount. Hundreds of other victims are also suing for compensation.
“Cooperation between South Korea and Japan is extremely important,” South Korea’s Foreign Minister Park Jin said at a news conference on Monday announcing the proposal. “We should not remain indifferent to the impasse in South Korea-Japan relations and must end the vicious circle in our national interest.”
In Tokyo, Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters that Japan “highly appreciates” South Korea’s proposal, noting that it is “not based on the assumption that Japanese companies will contribute” to the fund. .
There was no immediate response from South Korean forced labor victims or their lawyers on Monday. But some victims vehemently criticized the proposed solution after key elements of it were leaked to South Korean news agencies in recent weeks.
Their main concern is that the money won’t come directly from Japanese companies profiting from forced labor during the war, according to the 2018 Supreme Court ruling. which includes the most successful Japanese companies, such as nippon steel And Mitsubishi Heavy Industry.
Seoul’s announcement comes after months of negotiations with Tokyo. So far, according to Korean news reports, Japan has opposed the idea of contributing to the fund, fearing that it would be tantamount to paying compensation. (Park said on Monday that the Japanese government probably wouldn’t object to Japanese companies’ contributions to the fund, if they were made voluntarily.)
Tokyo has long asserted that all claims arising from its colonial rule against Korea between 1910 and 1945 – including those relating to forced labor and sex slaves — was settled when Japan gave Korea $500 million in aid and cheap loans as part of their 1965 treaty.
South Korea spends part of that money building major highways and key industrial plants, like those owned by steelmaking giant Posco. Such Korean businesses will be asked to donate to the fund announced on Monday.
The United States views the not-so-good relationship between Seoul and Tokyo as a weak link in its Asia-Pacific alliances, and it has made efforts to promote trilateral cooperation in the face of China’s rise. China and North Korea’s provocative missile tests. Ned Price, a spokesman for the State Department, said last week that the United States welcomed Seoul and Tokyo for their recent efforts to improve their relationship.
Motoko is rich Reporting contributions from Tokyo.
