Speaker Moon proposes joint compensation to Japan
National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang speaks during his lecture at Japan's Waseda University in Tokyo, Tuesday, where he proposed a compromise to Tokyo on the issue of Japanese companies compensating surviving South Korean victims of forced labor. Courtesy of the National Assembly
By Jung Da-min
National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang has proposed a compromise deal to the Japanese government in an attempt to resolve the thorny issue of compensation for wartime forced labor, which has rocked Seoul-Tokyo relations over the past year.
Calling for lawmakers of the two countries to establish “a new system” that would help restore bilateral relations while the two sides remain as far apart as ever, Moon said he is planning to submit a comprehensive plan putting together other submitted plans for the forced labor issue.
Moon was on a four-day trip to Tokyo to attend a meeting of parliamentary speakers of G20 countries on Monday.
“We need to set up a fund which consists of contributions from companies of the two countries which do not just include those responsible but also others not directly related through voluntary participation,” Moon said during his lecture at Japan's Waseda University in Tokyo, Tuesday.
Moon also proposed the inclusion of the remaining 6 billion won ($5.18 million) from the Japan-funded Reconciliation and Healing Foundation.
Students and officials of Japan's Waseda University attend a special lecture by South Korea's National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang, Tuesday, at the university campus in Tokyo. Courtesy of the National Assembly
The suggestion came before the official Nov. 22 deadline to renew an intelligence-sharing pact between Seoul and Tokyo. President Moon Jae-in agreed with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to address all pending bilateral issues via open dialogue during their 11-minute encounter in Bangkok, early this week.
Regarding the National Assembly speaker's suggestion, Tokyo refused to accept the deal, as Japan's public broadcaster NHK reported a Japanese government official as saying the proposal assumes Japanese firms will pay for the compensation, which Japan cannot accept.
The speaker's idea was to contradict Tokyo's firmly held diplomatic position that all outstanding issues involving wartime forced labor were already completely settled under an economic cooperation agreement agreed to in 1965, which was attached to the basic treaty that normalized diplomatic relations between the two countries.
The speaker later that day met Rep. Toshihiro Nikai, secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (LDP). Moon talked about his proposal, reports said.
Moon noted the two countries are facing significant moments as the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) is heading toward its official expiration.
“If such a bill I proposed [on the compensation of the victims of forced wartime labor] is not established, the relations between the two countries will come to a dead end,” Moon said during his visit to Tokyo Korean School, Wednesday.
Moon has also called on the two countries to restore the peaceful spirit of the 1998 Republic Korea-Japan Joint Declaration between South Korea's then-President Kim Dae-jung and Japan's then-Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi on building a future-oriented partnership.