SEOUL, A group of civic groups on Tuesday condemned the government's plan to compensate victims of Japan's wartime forced labor on its own, saying the decision amounts to national humiliation similar to Korea's 1910 forced annexation by Japan.
The government of President Yoon Suk Yeol announced the plan Monday in an effort to restore strained relations with Tokyo. It calls for establishing a foundation charged with collecting public donations and compensating more than a dozen victims.
Critics, including some victims, civic groups and the main opposition Democratic Party, bristled strongly at the decision, arguing that it makes no sense to compensate victims with public donations, rather than money from Japanese companies that exploited them for hard labor.
"March 6 of 2023 will be recorded as the worst day in South Korean history and the second National Humiliation Day," an association of 611 civic groups advocating the rights of forced labor victims said in front of the National Assembly in western Seoul.
"The government damaged the fundamental order in our Constitution that colonial occupation is illegal," the association said. "If Japan truly repents deeply, it should make an apology and carry out the South Korean Supreme Court's order."
The forced labor row began after the South's Supreme Court ordered Japanese companies, 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 all reparation issues stemming from its colonial occupation were settled under a 1965 treaty under which Seoul normalized relations with Tokyo in exchange for US$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.
Two forced labor victims joined the civic groups' news conference and spoke up against the compensation plan. They both won the Supreme Court's ruling that orders compensation from Mitsubishi for forced labor.
"I have never been more upset in my whole 95 years of life," said Yang Geum-deok, one of the victims. "I wonder which country Yoon Suk Yeol belongs to. He should go away at an early date."
The other victim also said she cannot accept the settlement plan.
Activists also denounced the creation of a "future youth fund" as a plot to divert public criticism and "colonize future generations," saying the fund will do nothing to heal the pain of forced labor victims.
The government announced the envisioned future youth fund will be financed by the two countries' business communities and be dedicated to sponsoring scholarships for students.
Attending the event along with other opposition lawmakers, Rep. Lee Jae-myung also demanded the government withdraw the plan which, he said, is infuriating the victims and the public.
The association said it will begin a process to collect signatures from the public to abort the settlement plan and hold a public rally at Seoul Plaza on Saturday.
Source: Yonhap News Agency