[Concerning] Candidate Lee Jae-myung's remarks, such as "Need to fulfill the judgmentㅇ on forced labor in Japan"

Lee Jae-myung, presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea (hereinafter referred to as Lee Jae-myung), visited Space "N15" on November 30 and spoke about "forced recruitment." Regarding the issue of compensation for forced labor in Japan, Lee Jae-myung said, "History does not disappear just because we turn a blind eye to it," adding, "The Japanese government should quickly implement the ruling on compensation for forced labor."

The irony is that Lee Jae-myung has already said nothing about the apology and compensation (compensation) made by the Japanese government and the Korean government.

Can it be said that he, a legal professional, is unaware of the Korea-Japan Basic Treaty, Claim Agreement, and follow-up measures signed between Japan and Korea to resolve the past under Japanese colonial rule. If so, there is no doubt that his remarks are intended to use anti-Japanese sentiment as part of the voting tactics.

Nevertheless, we would like to help Lee Jae-myung and Democratic Party officials understand by adding key historical facts that Lee Jae-myung may have missed.

1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs records 39 expressions of past apology by Japan, a war criminal country that caused the Asia-Pacific War, but the actual number of apologies and reflections is higher than that.

2. In January 2005, the Korean government released 1,200 pages of diplomatic documents that recorded the progress of the Korea-Japan Basic Treaty. The documents, which have been kept confidential for 40 years, record that the Japanese government actually offered direct compensation to each victim to the Korean government, but the Korean government insisted on handling individual compensation for its citizens and received the full amount.(Treatise on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea. See Wiki in English)

In other words, at the time of the claim agreement, South Korea collectively received Japan's personal compensation proposal as national compensation, and then completed it with individual compensation for victims and bereaved families by the Park Chung-hee administration (83,000 people) and the Roh Moo Hyun government (218,000 cases).

3. The Roh Moo Hyun government recognized and compensated victims in accordance with the "Act on Supporting Victims of Compulsory Mobilization" (2007), and the joint public-private committee (Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan, Moon Jae In Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs, etc.) concluded that "compensation for forced labor was included in the 1965 claim agreement."

4. Lee Jae-myung's remarks are based on the 2018 Supreme Court ruling that ordered compensation from Japanese companies for victims of forced labor in 2018, but this is contrary to "state exemption," which can be seen as a violation of international law.

Therefore, "It is reasonable to assume that the victims' right to claim damages falls under the 'right to claim' completely and finally resolved by the 'right to claim' agreement', and the 2021 Central District Court ruling (Sentence 2015Gahap13718) should be regarded as a reasonable ruling that complies with international law.

If Lee Jae-sik's thoughts, such as these remarks, are fixed in our society and applied to policy against Japan, it is clear that a gloomy future will unfold not only in relations with Japan but also in international diplomacy.

Therefore, the media should not irresponsibly accept Lee Jae-sik's non-historical, emotional, anti-Japanese remarks, but revive the function of criticizing and monitoring power by carefully taking historical facts from a world historical thinking and international law perspective.

December 2nd

People’s Solidarity for resolution of Korea-Japan conflict