In response to the South Korean Supreme Court ruling on wartime labor claims, this essay examines parliamentary statements by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Foreign Minister Taro Kono to reassess the meaning of the 1965 Japan-Korea Claims Agreement, the scale of the 500 million dollars Japan provided, and the reality that the issue should be described not as “forced labor” but as one involving workers from the Korean Peninsula. It argues that South Korea’s conduct, far outside international norms, will become increasingly known around the world.

2019-04-11
“It was equivalent to about 1.6 times South Korea’s national budget at the time.”
Asked how large the 500 million dollars that Japan had pledged to provide under the 1965 Japan-Korea Claims Agreement actually was, Mr. Kono answered in this way.

This is a chapter I published on 2018-11-06 under the title: South Korea’s abnormal behavior will become increasingly known throughout the world.
The following is from the Sankei Sho column on the front page of the November 3 issue of the Sankei Shimbun.

One can see what points the South Korean side is worried about.
Regarding the issue of the South Korean Supreme Court handing down a final ruling ordering Japanese companies to pay compensation in lawsuits concerning former so-called wartime laborers, the Japanese edition of the JoongAng Ilbo on the 1st took up the following answers given that same day by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Foreign Minister Taro Kono at the House of Representatives Budget Committee.

▼Prime Minister Abe explained that mobilization under the National Mobilization Law included recruitment, official mediation, and conscription, and that the four plaintiffs in the trial had all responded to recruitment.
On top of that, he emphasized that “the government refers to this not as the issue of ‘forced laborers’ but as the issue of workers from the Korean Peninsula.”

▼“It was equivalent to about 1.6 times South Korea’s national budget at the time.”
Asked how large the 500 million dollars that Japan had pledged to provide under the 1965 Japan-Korea Claims Agreement actually was, Mr. Kono answered in this way.
Both points were inconvenient truths for South Korea, and that is probably why they could not help but pay attention.

▼Likewise, on October 31, the Japanese edition of the Chosun Ilbo carried an interview with Lee Won-deok, a professor at Kookmin University and a specialist on the Claims Agreement.
“It is the first case in the world in which the illegality and legal responsibility of colonial rule were recognized.”
In other words, it amounted to admitting that the ruling was “a judgment that cannot exist in light of international law” (Prime Minister Abe), that is, something outside common sense.

▼No, there is no need even to invoke international law or diplomatic rules.
If, regarding a matter that both sides had accepted and settled more than half a century ago, one side can say after decades, “I still do not like it. Give me more money,” and have that tantrum accepted, then society itself cannot function.

▼The South Korean side must vaguely realize that as well, which is why it is concerned about Japan’s reaction.
But it is already too late.
Mr. Kono instructed Japan’s overseas missions to explain the circumstances to foreign governments and the media in each country.
South Korea’s abnormal behavior will become increasingly known throughout the world.