This chapter was originally published on July 25, 2018.
The following continues the previous chapter.
◆ Originally, There Was Neither an Obligation to Apologize to South Korea nor a Responsibility to Pay Money
http://ccce.web.fc2.com/imgk/oda.html
South Korea was not a victim but an aggressor that participated in the war as part of Japan.
Even from an international perspective, everything from state compensation to individual compensation was settled completely and finally by the Japan–South Korea Basic Treaty.
(Article II, paragraph 1 of the Agreement)
Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea
Under the 1965 Japan–South Korea Basic Treaty, Japan paid $300 million in grants, $200 million in loans, and $300 million in private-sector loans.
The total was $800 million.
Since these were amounts at the time, let us convert them into present-day monetary values.
Also, let us consider only the $300 million grant portion of the $800 million.
・Converted into yen: $300 million × ¥360 (the exchange rate at the time was $1 = ¥360) = ¥108 billion.
・Converted into present-day prices: ¥108 billion × 10 (the starting monthly salary of a university graduate at the time was approximately ¥20,000) = ¥1.08 trillion.
Let us divide this amount among the 700,000 forcibly mobilized workers and 200,000 comfort women claimed by South Korea, a total of 900,000 people, as compensation.
Although there is an argument that there was no forcible mobilization or coercion of comfort women in the first place, here we calculate using figures that accept South Korea’s claims in full.
・Converted into an amount per victim of coercion: ¥1.08 trillion ÷ 900,000 people = ¥1.2 million per person.
We now have an amount that can be compared.
The next question is whether this amount is high.
There is Germany, which is said to have provided sufficient postwar compensation.
Since some people and newspapers tell us to follow Germany’s example, let us refer to Germany.
Germany’s compensation to forced laborers amounts to ¥300,000–¥800,000 in present-day monetary values.
Even the highest amount, for Jewish slave laborers, is ¥800,000.
This objective comparison shows that Japan’s postwar compensation to South Korea was at a very high level.
The total of $800 million, including grants and loans, was 2.3 times South Korea’s national budget at the time, demonstrating how substantial the amount was.
Incidentally, this compensation covered the entire Korean Peninsula, and it was an amount the South Korean government accepted by saying, “When we reunify with North Korea, we will make the payments to the people in the North.”
＊In other words, all Japanese citizens and people throughout the world need to learn from this chapter that the reparations and other payments North Korea seeks to demand from Japan as a matter of course should be paid by the South Korean government.
If we are people possessed of sound intelligence.＊
Furthermore, Japan relinquished the assets it had left in prewar Korea.
In light of the precedent that private assets owned by British people in India were returned to their individual owners when India became independent from Britain, this is an act that can fully qualify as postwar compensation.
What is astonishing is the amount.
According to a survey by General Headquarters’ Civil Property Custodian, it amounted to $5.3 billion, excluding military assets.
(Ministry of Finance, Office of Fiscal History, A History of Shōwa Public Finance: From the End of the War to the Peace Treaty, Toyo Keizai Inc.)
In other words, Japan compensated South Korea through $5.3 billion in prewar assets and $800 million in postwar reparations.
The Japan–South Korea Basic Treaty contains the following wording.
“Confirm that the postwar settlement has been resolved completely and finally.”
(Article II, paragraph 1 of the Agreement)
However, after the treaty was concluded, South Korea used the settlement funds from Japan for national development without paying compensation to individuals.
There is no doubt that South Korea’s economic growth, known as the “Miracle on the Han River,” was achieved through the efforts of the South Korean people, with the settlement funds paid for both North and South Korea serving as a driving force.
If that is so, the South Korean government needs to inform its people about this remarkable treaty.
Is it to conceal the fact that the funds were diverted to national development rather than paid to individuals?
Or is it to keep stirring up anti-Japanese sentiment indefinitely?
Or is it both?
As a result, South Koreans still believe that Japan has not fulfilled its responsibilities, become indignant, and bring claims against Japan for damages that have already been settled.
Therein lies one of the major gaps in understanding between Japan and South Korea.
Both South Korean citizens and Japanese citizens need to understand this well.
http://blog.livedoor.jp/lancer1/archives/11256231.html
http://koreaphoto.hp.infoseek.co.jp/compensation.html
This article continues.