The South Korean Supreme Court yesterday upheld rulings ordering two Japanese companies to compensate South Koreans who were forced to work under Japan’s 1910-1945 occupation, a decision that immediately sparked a protest by Tokyo.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said the South Korean Supreme Court’s ruling upholding orders for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd and Nippon Steel Corp to compensate victims and their relatives contravened a 1965 treaty.
“This is a clear violation of the Japan-South Korea Claims Agreement, and is extremely regrettable and absolutely unacceptable,” Hayashi told reporters during a regular news conference.
Photo: AP
The South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs was not immediately available for comment.
Both Nippon Steel and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries called the South Korean court’s decision “regrettable” and said that the issue of South Korean laborers had already been resolved by the 1965 agreement between the two countries.
Disputes over forced labor and wartime sex abuse have soured relations between Japan and South Korea for decades.
In an effort to mend ties with Tokyo, conservative South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol announced in March former forced laborers would be compensated through an existing public foundation funded by South Korean private-sector companies.
Yoon’s plan for resolving the cases was hailed by US President Joe Biden as “groundbreaking” but faced a backlash from some victims and South Korea’s main opposition party, and cases have continued to move forward.
In two separate cases dating back to 2013 and 2014, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Nippon Steel were ordered to pay 1.17 billion won (US$896.2 million) to 11 victims or their relatives.
“It’s a significant case that shows a diplomatic compromise between South Korea and Japan won’t make the issue of forced labor go away,” said Kim Yeong-hwan at the Center for Historical Truth and Justice, a civic group helping the forced labor victims.
The decision also reaffirms a 2018 ruling acknowledging the former laborers’ right to reparation was not terminated by the 1965 treaty and rejecting Tokyo’s position, Kim said.
Some victims were between 13 and 14 years old when they were forced to work at an aircraft factory for eight to 10 hours a day without pay in 1944, the group said.
All the plaintiffs involved in the litigation have since died except for one family member, the group said.
The court ruling came as senior South Korean and Japanese diplomats were due to hold high-level economic talks in Seoul yesterday for the first time in eight years in a further effort to improve ties as the countries are drawn closer by shared geopolitical concerns.
A beauty queen who pulled out of the Miss South Africa competition when her nationality was questioned has said she wants to relocate to Nigeria, after coming second in the Miss Universe pageant while representing the West African country. Chidimma Adetshina, whose father is Nigerian, was crowned Miss Universe Africa and Oceania and was runner-up to Denmark’s Victoria Kjar Theilvig in Mexico on Saturday night. The 23-year-old law student withdrew from the Miss South Africa competition in August, saying that she needed to protect herself and her family after the government alleged that her mother had stolen the identity of a South
BELT-TIGHTENING: Chinese investments in Cambodia are projected to drop to US$35 million in 2026 from more than US$420 million in 2021 At a ceremony in August, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet knelt to receive blessings from saffron-robed monks as fireworks and balloons heralded the breaking of ground for a canal he hoped would transform his country’s economic fortunes. Addressing hundreds of people waving the Cambodian flag, Hun Manet said China would contribute 49 percent to the funding of the Funan Techo Canal that would link the Mekong River to the Gulf of Thailand and reduce Cambodia’s shipping reliance on Vietnam. Cambodia’s government estimates the strategic, if contentious, infrastructure project would cost US$1.7 billion, nearly 4 percent of the nation’s annual GDP. However, months later,
The Philippine Department of Justice yesterday labeled Vice President Sara Duterte the “mastermind” of a plot to assassinate the nation’s president, giving her five days to respond to a subpoena. Duterte is being asked to explain herself in the wake of a blistering weekend press conference where she said she had instructed that Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr be killed should an alleged plot to kill her succeed. “The government is taking action to protect our duly elected president,” Philippine Undersecretary of Justice Jesse Andres said at yesterday’s press briefing. “The premeditated plot to assassinate the president as declared by the self-confessed mastermind
Texas’ education board on Friday voted to allow Bible-infused teachings in elementary schools, joining other Republican-led US states that pushed this year to give religion a larger presence in public classrooms. The curriculum adopted by the Texas State Board of Education, which is controlled by elected Republicans, is optional for schools to adopt, but they would receive additional funding if they do so. The materials could appear in classrooms as early as next school year. Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott has voiced support for the lesson plans, which were provided by the state’s education agency that oversees the more than
RSS