Leaving a legacy or unfinished business?

In the meantime, it is the victims and their families who suffer the most.

Yoo Jee-hyeThe author is head of the diplomatic and security news department at the JoongAng Ilbo. “Japan is uneasy, Korea is unhappy.”

This has been a common opinion frequently repeated in Korean and Japanese diplomatic circles after the Yoon Suk Yeol administration proposed a third-party compensation plan to resolve the thorny issue of Japan’s mobilization of Korean laborers during the colonial era.

The essence of the third-party compensation is that the Foundation for Victims of Forced Mobilization by Imperial Japan under the Korean government first pays the victims — who have won their cases in the Supreme Court — the compensation stipulated in the ruling on behalf of the defendants, Japan’s war criminal companies. This is a way for victims to receive actual compensation as Japanese war criminal companies refused to budge and no restitution was made to the victims. Instead, the door was left open for any company, Korean or Japanese, to donate to the foundation.

Korea’s disgruntlement stems from Japan’s unresponsive attitude. To date, no Japanese companies have made their contributions to the foundation and its funds are nearly depleted. According to the foundation, most of the 52 victims who have won their cases after the first payment want to receive compensation through the foundation. But the payments were suspended as there’s no money to pay them.

Numbers also confirm the Korean frustration. According to a recent poll by the East Asia Institute, negative evaluations of the third-party settlement increased from 34.1 percent last year to 39.7 percent this year. When asked about Tokyo’s attitude toward improving bilateral relations, 57.6 percent said they viewed it negatively and only 26.9 percent said they viewed it positively. While more people were negative last year (34.2 percent negative vs. 15 percent positive), the gap grew bigger this year.

Japan’s “uneasiness” stems from the frustration that Korea’s decisions could be reversed at any time. Whenever a new administration was launched in Korea, bilateral relations went through ups and downs depending on Korea’s domestic political situation. This anxiety is understandable, as the bilateral agreement on comfort women compensation was undermined and Seoul even attempted to terminate the General Security of Military Information Agreement (Gsomia) with Japan.

But it is cowardly to do nothing because of anxiety. Former Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin had said, “If we fill the glass first, Japan will fill the remaining half.” But his expectation was dashed and the glass is still half full. This is the first reason why the third-party settlement plan is at a crossroads.

The second reason is the influence of politics. Experts worry that Korean companies’ reluctance to donate to the foundation owes to President Yoon’s plummeting approval rating which plunged to 20 percent. As the opposition party controls the majority in the legislature, companies likely fear the ramifications of their participation in the third-party compensation being pushed by the unpopular Yoon administration.

The opposition’s reckless branding of the government’s efforts to improve Korea-Japan relations as “being pro-Japan” also plays a part. The logic that the government is forcing the victims to do something they don’t agree with is also not true. After the Supreme Court made rulings in October and November in 2018 for 15 victims, 11 had received compensations from the foundation. Only some victims are unwilling to accept the third-party remuneration, not all of them.

The third reason is the Yoon administration’s attitude of just trusting Japan. It made a decision, but made no persistent push for Tokyo to take corresponding actions. After deciding on the third-party compensation plan, Yoon said, “I will do my best to make our people feel the benefits of improved ties between Korea and Japan.” There were some accomplishments, but without progress on the issue of resolving the past, no achievements will be fully recognized.

In the meantime, it is the victims and their families who suffer the most. “I missed my father so much that he appeared in my dream, but I couldn’t see his face as I had never seen him,” said a survivor whose father was recruited as a forced laborer and died while his mother was still pregnant with him. “She seemed fine all her life, but now that she has dementia, her memories of youth are coming back and she relives the pain every day,” said a grandson who witnessed his grandmother’s final days.

Without true justice for these victims, the Yoon administration’s efforts to better Korea-Japan relations will remain unfinished business, not a legacy.

Translation by the Korea JoongAng Daily staff.