TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio welcomed a plan announced by the South Korean government Monday to resolve a dispute between the two countries over wartime labor as an important step for improving their relations.

“I appreciate it as a step for bringing Japan-South Korea relations back on track,” Kishida told a parliamentary committee meeting.

“I want to continue to communicate closely with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and work on developing Japan-South Korea relations,” he said.

Japanese Foreign Minister HAYASHI Yoshimasa told reporters that the Kishida cabinet upholds its predecessors’ positions on the recognition of history, including the 1998 joint statement released by then Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi and then South Korean President Kim Dae-jung.

“The Japanese government values the measures announced by the South Korean government today as an effort to restore healthy Japan-South Korea ties after they were put in a very severe situation due to the 2018 judgement,” Hayashi said.

In 2018, Seoul’s Supreme Court ordered some Japanese companies to pay compensation over forced labour, but South Korea now says it hopes for “voluntary contributions” from Japanese firms.

In the 1998 statement, Japan expressed its “deep remorse and heartfelt apology” for tremendous damage and suffering it caused to the people of South Korea through its past colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

The South Korean plan calls for an existing foundation to pay compensation to South Koreans suing Japanese companies over their work during World War II on behalf of the defendants. The payments will be financed by donations from South Korean companies.

Hayashi said the Japanese government will not block any attempt by domestic companies to make voluntary donations.

On Japan’s controls on exports to South Korea, Kishida said the measure is a separate issue from the wartime labor row.

AFP/JIJI Press