Japan

South Korea Announces Deal on Japan Forced Labor Dispute

MAR 6 2023·Updated MAR 8 2023

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Image credit: Reuters [via The Wall Street Journal]

The Facts

South Korea on Monday announced a plan to compensate victims of forced labor during Japan's 35-year colonial rule, as Seoul and Tokyo seek to ease their relationship amid a turbulent Indo-Pacific security situation.
CNN
The proposed compensation will see those who successfully sued Japanese firms for damages receive money from a fund reliant on private donations. However, the plan has drawn backlash from former forced laborers and their supporters, who demand direct compensation and desire an official apology from the Japanese government.
NBC
The Foundation for Victims of Forced Mobilization by Imperial Japan, which is set to manage the reparations, has said the funds will come from South Korean companies that benefited from the 1965 Seoul-Tokyo treaty — Japan has insisted that the pact settled all wartime compensation issues.
ABC News
The issue of forced labor, as well as accusations that South Korean women were enslaved in Japanese military brothels during the Japanese rule of the Korean Peninsula, has been causing disputes between the two countries for decades.
Al Jazeera
Their relations further soured in 2018, after South Korea's Supreme Court ordered Japanese companies to pay reparations to 15 South Koreans that were forced to work under Japan's 1910-1945 occupation.
Reuters
US Pres. Joe Biden has called this agreement a breakthrough in cooperation between two close US allies, highlighting that it had come just as Washington is seeking to strengthen its alliances so as to effectively face challenges from the PRC and North Korea.
CNBC

Sources Split

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The Spin

Pro-establishment narrative

This deal is a step toward justice for South Korean victims of Japanese forced labor. While it would be nice for Japanese firms to voluntarily support the foundation benefiting the victims, the most important thing at this point is that Japan is sincerely reasserting its previous apologies and survivors are receiving their compensation.

ABC News

Establishment-critical narrative

This deal is only a victory for Japan, as the nation will avoid paying a single yen to the victims of its forced labor practices, while the companies that benefited from them will face no legal consequences for their war crimes. This is submissive diplomacy meant to patch up relations between Japan and South Korea, but this half-cooked attempt to resolve the biggest humiliation and disappointment in Korea's history will never be accepted by Seoul.