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South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon met with Fukushiro Nukaga

During a meeting with Fukushiro Nukaga, Japanese chairman of the Japan–Korea Parliamentarians’ Union, on Feb. 13, South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon addressed the fact that Japan has objected to the ruling by the South Korean Supreme Court that victims of forced labor during the Japanese colonial occupation should be paid reparations. “It doesn’t make sense for Japan to agree to the trial and then to refuse to accept the ruling when it lost,” Lee said.

During a breakfast meeting at the prime minister’s official residence in Seoul’s Samcheong neighborhood with Nukaga and Rep. Kang Chang-il, a lawmaker with the Democratic Party and the South Korean chairman of the Japan–Korea Parliamentarians’ Union, Lee was quoted by Kang as saying, “I respect the South Korean Supreme Court’s ruling about compensation for forced labor during the Japanese colonial occupation.”

In November 2018, the Supreme Court ruled that Mitsubishi Heavy Industries had to pay compensation in a lawsuit filed by Korean victims of forced labor under Japanese rule.

Lee made his remarks after Nukaga mentioned the agreement about economic cooperation and the right to make claims that South Korea and Japan concluded in 1965 – which contains a phrase declaring that all outstanding claims between the two countries had been finally resolved – and said he thought that South Korea ought to respect the agreement it had made with Japan. Lee reportedly made clear that “the question of individuals’ rights against companies isn’t mentioned anywhere in that agreement.”

In addition, Lee was quoted as saying that “this is a complicated matter that’s connected with the judicial scandal involving former Supreme Court chief justice Yang Seung-tae.” Lee also mentioned allegations that former Japanese Ambassador to South Korea Masatoshi Muto, who was then advisor to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and former South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, who was then a member of the transitional committee for president-elect Park Geun-hye, had met in January 2013 to discuss ways to respond to the Supreme Court’s ruling in May 2012 that found Mitsubishi responsible for paying compensation. Lee mentioned that Yun is also accused of having been implicated in an attempt to interfere in the judicial process by having the Supreme Court, under Chief Justice Yang Seung-tae, reverse its forced labor decision.

In 2012, prior to being appointed foreign minister, Yun worked as an advisor for the Kim and Chang law firm, which represented Japanese companies such as Mitsubishi and Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal (formerly Nippon Steel) that were guilty of war crimes, and was even a member of a task force that the law firm set up to respond to the forced labor decision.

In connection with this, Kang quoted Lee as saying, “If Japan hired Kim and Chang to represent it in the trial and then lost, it ought to accept the outcome of the trial. It doesn’t make sense for Japan to refuse to accept the outcome just because it lost.”

During the breakfast meeting, Nukaga reportedly also suggested that the way to end South Korea and Japan’s dispute over the forced labor ruling was to refer the case to the UN’s International Court of Justice. In response, Lee was quoted as saying, “This case has to do with individuals and companies, and not two states, so it can’t be taken to the International Court of Justice.”

This breakfast meeting took place when Nukaga, who is one of Japan’s leading pro-Korean lawmakers, visited Korea with the hope of finding a way to improve South Korea-Japan relations, which have been worsening since the Japanese government protested the South Korean Supreme Court’s forced labor ruling.

“Given the pressing issues at the moment, including the 100th anniversary of the Mar. 1 Movement and the [second] North Korea-US summit, we talked about the two countries taking some time to cool off and then looking for a solution,” Kang said.

Another view that was reportedly expressed during this meeting was that South Korea and Japan need to make an effort behind closed doors to repair their relations before the G20 summit – which will be attended by the leaders of the two countries – is held in the Japanese city of Osaka this June.

By Lee Jung-ae, staff reporter

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]