Civic groups condemn government for doing nothing after announcement of humiliating wartime forced labor resolution

Members of the ‘Joint Action for Historical Justice and Peaceful Japan-Korea Relations’ condemn the government‘s humiliating diplomacy toward Japan and the candidacy of history deniers for the general election at a press conference on the one-year anniversary of the announcement of the resolution on the humiliation of forced mobilization in front of Independence Gate in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, on June 6. By Sung Dong-hoon

"It's been a year since the government announced a humiliating resolution where it itself abandoned the blood and lives of Korean victims of Japan's wartime forced labor. And what has changed? Nothing has been solved."

Historical civic groups held a press conference in front of Independence Gate in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, to condemn the government on March 6, a year after the government announced the wartime forced labor resolution. Regarding the candidacy of former Foreign Minister Park Jin and others for the upcoming general election, who announced a “third party reimbursement plan," they said, "The people will judge." On March 6 last year, the government announced the third-party reimbursement plan, in which Korean companies instead pay off debts that Japanese companies owed to Korean victims of Japan's wartime forced labor.

The civic groups pointed out that the process of the third-party reimbursement plan has been bogged down in the court. The government applied for a deposit to the court, but a series of "non-acceptance" decisions were made in the first trial.

Lee Kuk-eon, chairman of the Citizens' Association for Japan's Forced Mobilization, said, "12 deposits attempted by the Japan's Forced Mobilization Victims Foundation (under the Ministry of Public Administration and Security) were disposed of without exception, and 12 objections were rejected."

"Twelve cases of deposit filed by the Foundation for Victims of Forced Mobilization by Imperial Japan to 12 courts across the country were rejected without exception and 12 appeals were also dismissed," said Lee Kuk-eon, chairman of the Citizens' Association for Japan's Forced Mobilization. "There is no such bizarre regulation in the Constitution and laws."

Park Seok-woon, co-chairman of the National People's Action Committee, said, "The government tried to overturn the Supreme Court's decision with a trick called the three-party reimbursement plan, but the problem has not been solved at all in the past year. The only solution is to follow the ruling that recognizes the victims' rights.”

Kim Young-hwan, head of external cooperation at the Center for Historical Truth and Justice, said, "The Korean and Japanese governments are trying to cover up history somehow, but the three-way reimbursement plan has already been failed," adding, "The evidence is that the victims received deposits in a damage suit against Hitachi Shipbuilding." The Seoul Central District Court paid 60 million won deposited by Hitachi Shipbuilding, a war criminal company, to the victims who won the lawsuit for damage on February 20.

They argued that it is irresponsible for government and ruling party officials who should be held accountable for the humiliating diplomacy to run in the general election. Chairman Lee said, "The people who led this disgraceful affair are aiming to represent the people without shame,” adding, “Please prevent the politicians who surrendered their national pride to Japan from taking control of the legislature." Lee Na-young, chairman of the Justice for the Comfort Women said, "Those who represented Japan's logic in the issue of forced mobilization are running for the general election. They should be harshly judged by the people.”

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.