Diplomatic Move
The South Korean and Japanese governments are pushing ahead with third-party payment to wrap up their forced wartime labor issue. The plan is to set up a foundation so that South Korean enterprises that benefited from a 1965 agreement can raise financial resources and pay victims via the foundation.
A total of 16 enterprises are likely to raise the resources, including POSCO, Korea Expressway Corporation, KT&G, KEPCO and KT. According to the South Korean government, it is up to each company to join.
A total of US$500 million was according to an agreement in 1965, including US$119.48 million to POSCO. The company is positive about its contributions. It promised payment of 10 billion won in 2012 and actually paid three billion won each in 2016 and 2017. Nippon Steel and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will not participate, as the Japanese government opposes any compensatory payment.
The victims and opposition parties are opposed to the project. “The South Korean government’s plan is nothing but humiliation and incompetence,” they said.