The military authorities announced that they plan to strengthen security cooperation in line with the South Korean government’s recent announcement of a solution to compensation for victims of forced labor during the Japanese colonial period, as well as efforts to improve relations with Japan.
Jeon Ha-gyu, spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense, answered a related question at a regular briefing on the 7th, saying, “The Ministry of National Defense will also review various matters for strengthening security cooperation between Korea and Japan and between Korea and the US and Japan.”
The day before, the government ordered a total of 15 victims of forced mobilization (three survivors) who won against Japanese war criminal companies (Nippon Steel and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries) in the final ruling of the Supreme Court between October and November 2018, a public agency under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Through the ‘Support Foundation for the Victims of Forced Mobilization under Japanese Occupation’, a solution to compensation for the damages of forced labor was officially announced, which included the payment of the judgment (100 million won or 150 million won per person) and interest for delay.
However, Japan’s ‘defendant companies’ such as Nippon Steel and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries are expected to not participate in the financing of the judgment, which is scheduled to be raised with private funds such as companies, so criticism is rising that the government’s solution is ‘only half’.
In the midst of this, the government announced its position on the resolution of forced labor the previous day, saying, “We hope that we can continue to work for the common interests of both Korea and Japan and peace and prosperity in the region and the world amid the recent severe situation on the Korean Peninsula and in the region and the world.” He reiterated the need for cooperation between South Korea and Japan to respond to North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.
For this reason, inside and outside the government, it is expected that with the announcement of the compensation solution for forced labor, the normalization of the legal status of the Korea-Japan Military Information Protection Agreement (GSOMIA, GSOMIA), which is currently in a state of ‘conditional termination postponement’, will be promoted in earnest.
In addition, observations are being raised that the South Korean and Japanese military authorities will seek ways to resolve the conflict following the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force patrol aircraft flying close to a South Korean naval ship in the East Sea and the South Sea in December 2018 and January the following year, respectively.
However, spokesman Jeon said in a briefing that day, “The issue related to patrol planes has nothing to do with the issue of forced conscription.” “The military’s position has not changed from before. I think there is a need to find a desirable solution in the future,” he said.
At the time of the patrol aircraft incident, the Japanese claimed that “the Korean Navy ship operated a fire control radar toward the patrol aircraft, which could be regarded as an act just before the attack,” while the South Korean military dismissed it as “unfounded,” and a battle for the truth took place.
Source: Donga
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