On Monday, South Korean and Japanese governments are studying a joint economic plan involving companies from both countries to ease the pressure on North Korea’s forced labor during the Second World War.
Kyodo News quoted an unnamed source as saying, however, that the Japanese government will not provide any funds to the plan, which is consistent with its position on the idea of forced labor that was resolved in the 1965 treaty.
South Korea and Japan have experienced a painful history, including Japan’s colonial rule on the Korean peninsula in 1910-45, forcing Japanese companies to mobilise labor and using “comfort women” – Japan’s euphemisms for girls and women, many of whom are Koreans.
South Korea proposed a joint fund with Japan in June to compensate Koreans forced to work by Japanese companies during the war, but Japan rejected the idea.
The new plan will be established to help promote economic development between the two countries, but does not involve any compensation for Koreans.