Korea, Japan establish channel between top offices to negotiate forced labor issue

• Published date: 03 March 2023
• Publication title: The Korea Times

Korea's presidential office and Japan's prime minister's office have established an additional channel to negotiate a settlement to the issue of compensation for Korean forced labor victims, a senior official said Friday.

The channel has been established between the presidential National Security Office and the National Security Secretariat under the prime minister's office amid reports the two countries are nearing a deal on the dispute.

Until now, the foreign ministries of the two sides have served as the main negotiation channel.

"There are other channels in operation in addition to the foreign ministry," the senior presidential official told Yonhap News Agency. "Sufficient discussions are also taking place between the two countries' security offices."

Korea's Supreme Court issued rulings in 2018 that ordered Japan's Nippon Steel and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to pay compensation to Korean forced labor victims who were mobilized during World War...