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Relatives of those who suffered forced hard labor during Japan’s colonial era arrive at the Supreme Court in Seoul, South Korea, on Thursday. South Korea’s most sensible court has ordered two Japanese corporations to financially compensate more of their wartime Korean staff for forced hard labor. as he sided with Thursday with his questionable 2018 verdicts that caused a massive setback in relations between the two countries.
SEOUL >> South Korea’s top court ordered two Japanese companies to financially compensate more of their wartime Korean workers for forced labor, as it sided Thursday with its contentious 2018 verdicts on the firms that caused a huge setback in relations between the Asian neighbors.
But observers say Thursday’s resolution is unlikely to hurt bilateral relations much, as Seoul and Tokyo, now ruled by other leaders, are seeking partnerships in the face of unusually demanding situations, such as North Korea’s growing nuclear threats and China’s growing assertiveness.
The Supreme Court ruled that Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will have to offer between 100 million and 150 million won ($76,700 to $115,000) as payment to each of the four plaintiffs, all of whom are heartbroken relatives of their former painters who were forced to work for the Japanese War Corporation of 1910-1945. Colonial domination of the Korean Peninsula. The court also said that Nippon Steel Corp. He was to give 100 million won (about $76,700) to each of the seven Korean plaintiffs, also all of them bereaved parents, for similar colonial-era forced labor.
“I felt very dissatisfied when I heard that (my father’s) caller was pronounced dead in today’s trial, but I am still very satisfied that we won, even though it is already a little late,” said Joo Soon-ja, daughter of the past. because of Joo Seok-bong, a forced laborer, while holding the giant framed photo of his father.
In two separate verdicts in 2018, South Korea’s highest court ordered Mitsubishi and Nippon Steel to compensate a total of 15 other Korean employees for forced labor. This infuriated Japan, which insisted that all payment problems had already been resolved by a 1965 bilateral treaty that normalized their diplomatic relations. But South Korean court rulings in 2018 said the treaty cannot save Americans from reimbursement for forced labor, as the use of such personnel through Japanese corporations constituted “illegal acts opposed to humanity” similar to the illegal colonial profession and the Tokyo war. . aggression.
In Thursday’s ruling, the South Korean Supreme Court cited that argument in one of the 2018 verdicts, saying it paved the way for “a judicial remedy for forced labor victims within Republic of Korea.” Japan’s chief Cabinet secretary, Yoshimasa Hayashi, called the ruling “absolutely unacceptable,” saying it clearly violated the 1965 treaty.
The disputes that arose through the 2018 decisions led the two countries to downgrade their mutual industrial status, and the previous liberal government in Seoul threatened a pact to share military intelligence. Their strained relations have confounded U. S. efforts to build more powerful Washington-Seoul-Tokyo. trilateral cooperation to deal with demanding situations posed by North Korea and China.
However, relations between Seoul and Tokyo began to thaw after South Korea’s current conservative president, Yoon Suk Yeol, announced in March that his country would use a local business fund to compensate those suffering from hard forced labor without requiring Japanese contributions. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida later expressed sympathy for the suffering of Korean forced laborers during a stopover in Seoul. The two countries restarted high-level negotiations and withdrew their economic retaliatory measures at odds with each other.
On Thursday, the two countries held their first high-level economic negotiations in Seoul in about eight years and agreed to work together to achieve substantial cooperation in relationship-based economic sectors, according to South Korea’s Foreign Ministry. Foreign Affairs.
Eleven of the 15 former forced laborers or their families affected by the 2018 rulings had reached an agreement with Seoul’s third-party reimbursement scheme, but the other four still refuse to settle, according to Lee Kook Un, an executive with his group. It said another 70 claims for damages filed through more than 10 Japanese corporations were still pending in South Korean courts.
Lim Soosuk, spokesperson of South Korea’s Foreign Ministry, told reporters Thursday that the government would try to provide compensation to the Korean plaintiffs related to Thursday’s ruling through the third-party reimbursement system as well. He said that the South Korean government would also continue necessary communication with Japan.
Choi Eunmi, a Japan expert at the Seoul-based Asan Institute for Policy Studies, said Thursday’s resolution “is unlikely to cause major disruption in Korea-Japan relations” because South Korea has already decided how to handle such verdicts. with the establishment of the National Reimbursement Fund.
Choi said that because some people suffering from hard forced labor refuse to accept payment under the third-party reimbursement formula, the South Korean fund has absolutely not solved the problem. But he said it’s an attempt by a long-term South Korean government to strengthen the formula. it would damage South Korea’s credibility in Japan and seriously worsen bilateral relations.
Yoon’s efforts to improve ties with Japan have drawn strong reactions from some suffering from hard forced labor and from liberal opposition politicians, who have demanded direct reimbursement from Japanese companies. But Yoon defended his decision, saying it was imperative to strengthen ties with Japan. to jointly confront North Korea’s complex nuclear arsenal, intensifying U. S. -China rivalry, and global supply chain challenges.
Associated Press editors Jiwon Song in Seoul and Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.
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