NATIONALKorea's solution to forced labor issue draws backlash from victims

• Published date: 07 March 2023
• Publication title: The Korea Times

The government on Monday announced an agreement with Japan to compensate victims of forced labor during World War II through a fund created by Korean companies, without the direct involvement of responsible Japanese firms.

But the resolution immediately provoked a fierce backlash from wartime victims and their families, who described the proposal as Seoul's "total defeat" to Tokyo following a diplomatic fracas between the two sides that dragged on for nearly five years. The Japanese government, on the other hand, welcomed the announcement, hoping that the deal will help restore healthy bilateral relations.

During a briefing, Foreign Minister Park Jin unveiled the resolution on compensating 15 Korean victims of forced labor who won three separate lawsuits against two Japanese firms ? Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Nippon Steel ? in 2018. The Supreme Court here ordered the firms to compensate the plaintiffs who were forced to labor for Imperial Japan during its 1910-45 colonial occupation of Korea.

But...