The Yomiuri Shimbun reported on the 4th that the Japanese government has entered into coordination between South Korea and Japan in the direction of expressing succession to the past discourse with reflection by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida once the Korean government comes up with a solution to the issue of lawsuits for victims of forced labor during the Japanese occupation.
The newspaper aims to announce sooner or later a solution in which the Korean government compensates the ‘Forced Mobilization Victims Support Foundation’ instead of the Japanese defendant companies, and the Japanese government adheres to the position that the compensation issue has been resolved with the Korea-Japan Claims Settlement Agreement, and responds within it. introduced that they have been looking for.
During the review process, the Japanese government is said to have judged that the Prime Minister’s declaration that he inherited the position contained in the previous discourse on Korea-Japan relations or the joint declaration, not a new discourse, would not undermine the existing position that the issue of reparations had been resolved.
According to the newspaper, the document that the South Korean and Japanese governments value is the ‘Joint Declaration’ announced in 1998 by then-President Kim Dae-jung and Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi. At the time, Prime Minister Obuchi expressed ‘painful remorse and apology’ for the past colonial rule, and President Kim emphasized future-oriented relations that overcame the unfortunate history.
The newspaper reported that the Japanese government’s plan is for Prime Minister Kishida to respond to South Korea’s announcement of a solution by clearly expressing that there is no change in its position on historical issues, including colonial rule.
In addition, it is known that the Japanese business world is also considering projects that contribute to future-oriented Korea-Japan relations.
Within the Keidanren (Japan Economic Organization Federation), a plan to request financial cooperation from member companies for the establishment of a Korea-Japan cooperation project is emerging.
The newspaper reported that the cooperation project is supposed to provide scholarships for Korean students studying abroad, apart from compensation for conscription.
Source: Donga
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