A civic group downplayed the summit between President Yoon Seok-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, saying, “It was an ’empty-handed’ meeting with no apologies in the end.”
The Korea-Japan Action for History, Peace and Justice and the Citizens’ Group for Forced Mobilization under Japanese Occupation issued a statement on the 8th and said, “There was no ‘response’ from Japan that we expected while only talking about restoring ‘shuttle diplomacy’.” There was no,” he criticized.
The group said, “As the public criticized the ‘third party reimbursement’ of forced labor, in which South Korea was responsible for the compensation of the Japanese defendant companies, President Seok-Yeol Yoon, in his opening remarks at the cabinet meeting on March 21st, said, ‘Korea will preemptively remove the stumbling block. If we remove it, Japan will definitely respond,” he said, criticizing it, saying, “However, it was revealed how foolish the childish expectations were.”
“If Japan truly has an attitude of ‘painful remorse and apology’, the defendant and Japanese companies should apologize and compensate the victims of forced labor as per the Korean Supreme Court ruling,” he said. “However, Japan thoroughly ignores the pain of the victims and there is. This is the reality of ‘we will inherit the existing discourse’.”
At the same time, he pointed out, “It is not clear whether the ‘many people who worked under harsh conditions’ mentioned by Prime Minister Kishida were referring to the Japanese at the time or the Koreans who were forcibly mobilized by Japan.”
Earlier, at the Korea-Japan summit the previous day, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said to the victims of forced labor, “I feel heartbroken that many people who worked under harsh conditions at the time had difficult and sad experiences.”
Afterwards, after the press conference, when asked by Korean reporters why he made such remarks, Prime Minister Kishida added, “I was honestly expressing my feelings to those who had a difficult experience at the time.” It is pointed out that there was no direct apology or reflection, just personal consolation.
(Gwangju = News 1)
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.