Reaching a diplomatic agreement with the Japanese government is the only way to revolve issues regarding the forced mobilization of Koreans, according to Park In-hwan, chief of the Commission on Verification and Support for the Victims of Forced Mobilization under Japanese Colonialism in Korea.

“Ultimately, the two governments must reach a political, diplomatic resolution,” Park said.

He added, however, that as the Japanese government claimed that it no longer had any responsibility, the victims and their families needed to keep filing suits to raise international awareness.

“If Japan can be pressured into realizing its faults, then it could provide the basis for a new Korea-Japan agreement.” 

However, winning in Korean courts is not the end of the story. According to Park, although an annual interest rate of 20 percent will be applied to compensation, the companies can refuse to pay.

While the plaintiffs can obtain their compensation simply by filing for seizure of assets, it could spell the beginning of a much more complicated situation for Seoul.

“Japan will strongly object, and it could lead to diplomatic and economic dispute. (The Korean government) will be put in a difficult position,” Park said.

Park added that the authorities could not refuse to seize assets from the Japanese companies’ Korean operations once the plaintiffs filed for such an action.

“Japan will not sever diplomatic ties with Korea, but it will burden other issues such as free trade agreements and various cooperative relations between Korea and Japan.”

Park, a former public prosecutor, says that the lawsuits could go on as long as descendants of victims are alive, and that the 1965 Korea-Japan Claims Settlement Agreement does not free Japanese entities from the need to compensate those forced into labor. However, he points out that as the victims number in the hundreds of thousands, each one of them filing suits would cripple the courts and result in a massive waste of time and resources.

“The government cannot handle each and everyone separately. In the end a package agreement (between Seoul and Tokyo) is the only solution if you look at the long term, and at the future of bilateral relations.”

As for the committee itself, it is currently trying to reestablish itself as a standing body. Since its foundation in 2005, it has been operating as a temporary organization, extending the term as required.

However, after operating for eight years, it has managed to only scratch the surface of the problem. According to some estimates, more than 2 million Koreans were forced into working for the Japanese, but the committee has only managed to process about 220,000 cases.

Although regulations that would allow the committee to become permanent were drawn up in the past, they have been held back due to the lack of an accurate budget estimate.

In order to prevent the situation from repeating itself, the committee has issued a contract to get an accurate estimate of the budget it will require.

“The results of the study, on which statisticians and historians are collaborating, will come out in early September at the latest. Using the results, we will draw up plans for making the committee a standing body,” Park said.

He also said that the government was positive about the plan, and that lawmakers and concerned state organizations would not have any reason to oppose it.

Park added that the committee had just cause to be established as a standing body at least until tasks such as bringing back the remains of the deceased and compensating the victims are resolved.

“We may not have been able to save their lives. But in light of the country’s prestige that has grown to its current status, we cannot stand by while the victims remain scattered in Sakhalin, Japan, Polynesia and Saipan.”

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)