South Korea warns Japan against forced labor in wartime

SEOUL (Reuters) – Japan should avoid aggravating historical tensions in the diplomatic conflict with South Koreans forced to work for Japanese companies during World War II, the South Korean Foreign Ministry warned.

South Korea's Supreme Court ruled last month that Japan's Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp needed to compensate four South Koreans for their forced labor during the war, which Japan said was "unthinkable" .

The binding court verdict is straining relations between neighbors and could affect bilateral efforts to curb North Korea's nuclear program, analysts said.

Japan and South Korea share a bitter history that includes the Japanese colonization of the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945 and the use of comfort women, Japan's euphemism for girls and women, mostly Korean, forced to work in his war brothels.

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono said Sunday in an interview with Bloomberg that "it would be difficult for a country to do anything with the South Korean government" if a court could cancel the agreements of Seoul concluded under international law.

Kono's remarks threatened to fuel the controversy, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

"South Korea is very concerned that Japanese leaders in positions of responsibility neglect the root cause of the problem … and continue to make comments that arouse the emotions of our audience," the ministry said in a statement. declaration.

"The Japanese government must be clearly aware that an excessive political focus on the present case will not help for the future relationship between South Korea and Japan," the ministry said.

The Supreme Court's decision that Nippon Steel paid 100 million won ($ 87,700) to each of the steelmakers who claimed compensation and unpaid wages was triggered, claiming that their rights to compensation are not overruled by a treaty of 1965.

Japan says that the problem was solved "completely and finally" by the 1965 agreement.

Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Wednesday that South Korea was violating international law after the Supreme Court had handed down its verdict, and Seoul should take steps to redress the situation immediately.

"We are monitoring the concrete steps that the South Korean government will take," said Suga.

A senior South Korean presidential official said on Wednesday that the government needed time and Japan's latest comments were not helpful.

"The judiciary has made a decision that differs from the position of the previous government. We must therefore organize our position, "said the official, who refused to be named.

"It takes time, and the Japanese government, which is overly critical of our government, is not helping to solve the situation," added the official.

South Korea said that there were nearly 150,000 victims of forced labor in war, of whom 5,000 are alive. Japan says that the issue of compensation has been settled by the 1965 treaty normalizing ties.

In December, a South Korean appeal court is expected to rule on a similar case of claims against Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.