Bo-eun leads the digital content team. She has covered foreign affairs, North Korea, tech, economy and gender issues at The Korea Times. She did a short stint at the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, where she obtained a new perspective on news production and life. Small sources of joy for her are lounging in the sun, having a good latte and swimming.
Forced labor issue, radar row clouds Japan ties
President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shake hands ahead of a summit in New York in September 2018. / Yonhap
By Kim Bo-eun
By Kim Bo-eun
Relations between South Korea and Japan are only set to deteriorate further, as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe continues to speak out on issues such as the execution of a forced labor ruling, and a radar row. Tension is building as Japan is seen to be considering taking the forced labor issue to the International Court of Justice.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sunday expressed “deep regret” over the ongoing process for South Korean victims of Japan's forced labor to seize assets of a Japanese company South Korea's top court ruled should compensate last year.
After the Supreme Court ruled last October for Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal to pay 100 million won ($89,400) to each of the four plaintiffs, the legal counsel for the plaintiffs called for the company to compensate victims by Dec. 24.
After it refused, the legal counsel requested a local court to seize the company's assets in South Korea, which are shares of PNR, a joint company between Nippon Steel and POSCO. Nippon Steel is known to hold 30 percent of the shares, which are worth around 11 billion won.
Abe said he ordered related government bodies to review measures to counter the move, based on international law.
The measures may include taking the case to the International Court of Justice, as both sides remain firm in their respective stances. The South Korean court acknowledged the victims' individual rights to compensation, while Japan claims compensation was concluded with a bilateral treaty signed in 1965.
While a trial cannot be held unless South Korea agrees to it, raising the issue globally could be Japan's intention to publicize the case in its favor.
The legal counsel for the plaintiffs of the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries case is also set to take steps to seize assets of the company if it does not respond to calls to discuss the compensation issue. The Supreme Court also ordered Mitsubishi to compensate victims last year.
The step is likely to be taken, as the Japanese government is known to have ordered the companies not to follow the court rulings.
Meanwhile, the dispute that brewed over a Japanese patrol plane flying over a South Korean navy ship is escalating, as South Korea released its own video as evidence that its Gwanggaeto the Great destroyer did not target Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force's P-1 plane with a fire control radar as Tokyo claims, and that the aircraft was actually obstructing the South Korean destroyer's humanitarian operation to rescue a North Korean ship.
The defense ministry is set to upload the same video with subtitles in six languages, other than Korean and English, which it released last week. Earlier, Japan uploaded a video in which it claimed South Korea used the fire control radar. Seoul stated the video containing a recording of the Japanese plane's operator's remarks cannot serve as evidence and requested radar frequency data. Japan has refused to provide this, citing security reasons.
Abe is reported to have ordered Japan's defense ministry to release the video and said in an interview last week South Korea used the fire control radar.