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| The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea leader Lee Jae-myung speaks at a party meeting at the National Assembly in western Seoul on March 6. Yonhap |
Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung lambasted a deal between South Korea and Japan to compensate victims of wartime forced labor without the involvement of Japanese firms as the country's worst-ever humiliation in history.
The government of President Yoon Suk Yeol came up with the deal that calls for creating a foundation charged with collecting public donations and compensating victims of Japan's forced labor during its 1910-45 colonial rule of Korea in an effort to resolve the biggest thorn in relations between the two countries.
But the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), some victims and civic groups have expressed outrage that it makes no sense to compensate victims with public donations, rather than money from Japanese companies that exploited forced labor victims.
"The Yoon Suk Yeol administration appears to have ultimately chosen the path to betraying historical justice," DPK leader Lee Jae-myung said during a party meeting, calling the deal "the biggest humiliation and stain in diplomatic history."
"I ask the president, 'Whose government is this government?'" he said, comparing the agreement to "the Humiliation at Samjeondo," a 1637 incident in which the then king of Korea's Joseon Kingdom surrendered to China's Qing Dynasty by kneeling and bowing after a defeat in war.
The forced labor row began after South Korea's Supreme Court ordered Japanese companies, such as Nippon Steel and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, to pay compensation to Korean forced labor victims in 2018, and Japan imposed export curbs against Seoul in apparent retaliation the following year.
The Japanese government has long claimed that all reparation issues stemming from its colonial occupation were settled under a 1965 treaty under which Seoul normalized relations with Tokyo in exchange for $300 million in grants and $200 million in low-interest loans.
The Yoon administration put forward the idea of using a public foundation to compensate victims.
"The compensation will likely be made with a fund raised by our companies, not Japanese firms that committed war crimes, and Japan's apology is also expected to be at a level of repeating past statements," Lee said, noting his party will not tolerate any attempt to give "indulgence" to Japan's war crimes.
"It is secondary harm to victims calling for a sincere apology and compensation from assailants and violence that goes against the Supreme Court ruling," Lee added.
Seoul and Tokyo have held several rounds of talks on the forced labor issue over the past several months in line with the conservative Yoon administration's push for strengthening trilateral security partnership with the United States and Japan in a region marked by China's assertiveness and North Korea's provocations. (Yonhap)
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