To Mend Ties with Japan, South Korea Mulls a Deal on Wartime Grievances

Seoul's push to have a Korean private entity compensate victims of Japanese labor violations will help South Korea and Japan to mend bilateral relations, facilitating cooperation on military activities against North Korea and China. On Jan. 12, the South Korean government announced that it was considering compensating wartime victims of Japanese forced labor through an independent South Korean fund to which relevant Japanese firms may voluntarily contribute. This workaround follows years of lawsuits that culminated in a 2018 South Korean court ruling. The ruling found Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Nippon Steel guilty of forced labor violations during Japanese colonial rule (1910-1945) and ordered financial compensation, which could include seizing assets to pay the victims. The Japanese government and firms heavily protested the court decision, claiming the issues over forced labor were resolved in 1965. But the issue remains unresolved in the eyes of many South Koreans. The fallout from the...