Japan's Korea bashing over forced labor ruling 'goes too far'

Lee Chun-sik, 94, center, the last surviving plaintiff in a compensation lawsuit filed by four Korean forced laborers against Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal, sheds tears outside the Supreme Court in southern Seoul after winning the suit. / Yonhap

By Park Ji-won

The prime minister and foreign ministry expressed deep regret Wednesday over high-ranking Japanese officials' continued remarks against a court decision that ordered a Japanese company to compensate South Korean forced laborers during Japan's colonial rule of Korea.

Insiders say Japan has gone too far over the issue.

“I express deep regret about the Japanese leaders who continue to make aggressive remarks about the South Korean Supreme Court's decision for forced labor victims during the Japanese occupation period. The remarks of those leaders are neither legitimate nor wise,” Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon said in a statement.

Lee added that “I express regret for a situation where I had to come forward to speak about Japanese leaders making this issue into a diplomatic dispute.”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also expressed regret over Japan's reaction for the first time since the decision was made. On Oct. 30, the Supreme Court ordered Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal to pay 100 million won ($89,445) to each of four plaintiffs. It retained the adjudication of the ruling in 2012, that the 1965 bilateral treaty does not terminate individuals' rights to claim damages.

“Over the recent Supreme Court's decision, the South Korean government is seriously worried about the continued provocative remarks by Japanese government leaders who are responsible (for the matter), as they are provoking the emotions of South Koreans, leaving the fundamental problem behind,” the foreign ministry said Tuesday.

“Especially, we express serious disappointment over the overreaction that includes judgmental remarks, which are not filtered, against our court decision.”

Earlier Tuesday, South Korea's national security adviser Chung Eui-yong said: “If the Japanese government keeps on giving a strong response, our government cannot refrain from responding in kind.”

According to Japanese media reports, Japan's Foreign Minister Taro Kono again condemned South Korea for the court's decision, calling it a “riot” and a “challenge against the order of international society, which is founded on international law,” during a press conference, Tuesday.

According to Bloomberg, Kono said on Sunday that the court's decision posed a "serious challenge" to South Korea-Japan relations.

Kono and the Japanese government have stepped up criticism of South Korea as likely part of the country's publicity strategy to emphasize Japan's position to the international community.

According to NHK, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga immediately rebutted the South Korean foreign ministry's statement Wednesday, saying “the decision of South Korea's Supreme Court is against the 1965 bilateral treaty with Korea and regrettable.”

“The treaty works on the entire country, including law enforcement,” Suga said. “At the moment the Supreme Court's decision was made, the violation of international law by South Korea occurred.”

Japan's far-right Sankei Shimbun newspaper said the Japanese government would file a suit against the South Korean government with the International Court of Justice unless Seoul makes the payment, as a possible retaliation against the South Korean court's decision.

The Japanese government also revealed it will sue South Korea through the World Trade Organization (WTO) if shipbuilder subsidy talks fail.

Insiders say Japan's response goes too far and might harm relations between the two countries.

Rep. Chun Jung-bae of the minor opposition Party for Democracy and Peace openly criticized the Japanese government, urging it to stop. He sent a diplomatic letter to Kono on Wednesday.

Chun said: “The Japanese government's position and action should be restrained as they are extreme responses that will damage the cooperative relations between Korea and Japan and go against the establishment of future-oriented relations.

Critics say the Japanese government's claims are wrong while urging the South Korean government to set the facts straight.

“The South Korean government should deliver the point of the South Korean Supreme Court's decision that the 1965 treaty between the two Koreas didn't solve the forced labor issue,” Yonhap quoted Kim Chang-rok, a professor at Kyungpook National University, as saying.

Kim said: “There is a need to take the comprehensive and long-term approach over the court decision, but the South Korean government should not let go of Japan's unilateral claims. Immediate action should be taken over the wrong assertion.”

Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun reportedly met Tokyo's Ambassador to Seoul Yasumasa Nagamine on Tuesday to exchange views on the forced labor ruling.

Earlier, four Japanese lawmakers, led by congressman Yasuhisa Shiozaki, protested against the decision during a courtesy visit Tuesday to South Korea's National Assembly speaker and opposition parties, which is against protocol, South Korean lawmakers said.

Commenting on the Japanese lawmakers' claim that the court's decision is against the treaty that established diplomatic relations, Rep. Kang Chang-il, of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), told The Korea Times: “It is a country's court decision. Japan and Korea are democratic countries with separation of powers. It is discourtesy to talk about it.”