By Chung Min-uck
Koreans who were forced to work as laborers for imperial Japan called on the government Thursday to be more positive in helping them gain compensation from Tokyo.
The move came after a week-long silence from the foreign ministry, following a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court last week which validates the rights of individuals to make compensation claims.
“The Supreme Court’s decision tells us that victims have the right to seek compensation for the forced mobilization of labor,” said Lee Kook-un, secretary-general of the Association for Victims under Japanese Colonialism, during a press conference held in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade building in central Seoul. “If they are to neglect their duty and consider that it should be settled at the individual level, what is the government for? I cannot understand why the foreign ministry is siding with the Japanese government.”
Yea Un-taek, an 89-year-old man who survived forced labor under Imperial Japan, said during the conference, “I have lived up to now just to get back my dignity and compensation for what the Japanese took away. I will fight to the end.”
Seoul has been hesitant to request compensation for the wartime labor sticking to a long-held position the issue was resolved through the 1965 Korea-Japan Claims Settlement Agreement in which it received $800 million from Tokyo, putting the onus to individual victims.
The Japanese government adheres to the same position.
Criticism continues to mount on the Korean government’s attitude calling it a dereliction of duty.
“The victims are growing old. We don’t have the time. And how can they afford to win lawsuits against the Japanese government or companies,” said Lee. “I heard that around six billion won of unpaid wages reside in Japanese banks. If an individual’s right for compensation is valid, whose money is it?”
According to the Commission on Verification and Support for the Victims of Forced Mobilization under Japanese Colonialism, an affiliate of the Prime Minister’s Office, the Japanese government said 19 million individual accounts that were frozen still reside in Japanese banks holding in excess of six billion won.
“The Korean government should actively get involved in the matter,” Lee said.
The Daegu-based civic group has been supporting the wartime victims and their bereaved family members by lodging lawsuits for compensation from Japanese companies since 2008.
Japanese firms have yet to respond to the calls.
The conference was jointly held with the association of forcibly conscripted Korean women during the colonial era. The “comfort women” issue is another bone of contention between Seoul and Tokyo as Japan refuses to apologize or make compensation for the sexual abuse of women during its Imperial occupation of Korea.
The foreign ministry is also negligent in settling the issue with Tokyo even after Korea’s Constitutional Court last year ruled that it was unconstitutional for the government to take no specific action.