More S Korean plaintiffs sue Japanese firms over wartime labor

Japan claims that the issue of compensation arising from its 1910-1945 colonization of the Korean Peninsula was settled under a bilateral agreement signed when the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1965.

And it truly was. Despite what the anti-Japan revisionists will tell you, the claims were indeed settled back in 1965. The government of Japan had in fact offered to individually compensate the Korean victims of its colonial and wartime actions; the South Korean government flat out refused, and instead, used the money to fund its own public works projects (among other things).

But alas, it doesn't matter. It never matters that the government of Japan has formally apologized numerous times to the South Koreans, and offered compensation for things like the comfort women issue. All that matters is that the hatred towards Japan be forever perpetuated.

And the flood gates have opened. In a few months, these will be so regular that there won't be any point in reporting them.

"For the remaining people who could not participate this time, we plan to conduct thorough investigations for official proof of wartime labor" so there could be a second and third wave of suits, said one of the lawyers.

I guess 'ambulance chasers' aren't just an American thing.

Only three of the 54 plaintiffs were actual victims of forced labor, the rest were family members that saw a chance to make a quick buck.

@oldman_13

Apparently it wasn't, otherwise why would the victims be suing these companies?

It's interesting how so many countries, including Japan, are criticizing China for their foreign loans, accusing them of ''scamming poor and weak countries'', ''bribing them'' and ''trapping them into debt'', yet for some (not-so)mysterious reason, the same logic don't apply to Japan and their so called deal with South Korea in the 60s.

South Korea was a poor, weak country run by a dictator with which Japan signed a deal that they full well knew was not democratic, it was never considered with the actual victims, and they knew the money was going in the pockets of the regime, despite all that, they were eager to do it so that they can be done with it as soon as possible.

On top of that, the money they gave Korea was, number 1) tiny compared to the money America gave to Japan, and number 2) the money were given for "economic aid", and not compensation for the suffering of the victims. They did offer to give the "economic aid" money to individuals, but that would've been pointless, as the money were better spend on other projects, the point remains that those money were not intended as a compensation for the suffering of the people, they were compensation for the destruction of their economy, hence the term "economic aid".

Also, literally nobody in the Japanese government believes or have ever apologized for the Comfort Women. Osaka literally broke ties with SF because of the statue. The J-govt. spends millions trying to lobby foreign governments not to erect statues, and to remove all mentions of the comfort women from their history books. Few years ago, Japanese diplomats were threatening American textbook publisher. Does that look like the attitude of someone who feel remorse or is apologetic for the comfort women? If they have apologized, why are constantly denying it, and why are constantly trying to make foreign countries erase all mentions of it? Can you copy paste the actual sense of whoever you think has apologized?

Unpeaceful nation is always unpeace.

Unpeaceful nation is always unpeace.

You're right. South Korea needs to calm down and learn some peace.

In America, they have a saying: "The winners focus on winning. The losers focus on the winners" South Korea and China are losers. Japan is a winner. The Koreans are just looking for handout because their economy sick and their own government screwed them over.

Taking more aggressive steps against S. Korea is necessary to end this issues.

A weak Japan, apologetic, ready to hand out compesations is what lead to relations being the worst is has ever been. Over 92% of S. Koreans hate Japan at some level or another, their teaching a new generation of Koreans to have a victimhood mentality who expects apologies and compensation regularly from Japan. They also want to change the name of Japan Sea, took Takeshima illegally from Japan.

If you can't handle half a country like S. Korea, how can you handle a country like Russia.

A weak Japan, apologetic, ready to hand out compesations is what lead to relations being the worst is has ever been.

Exactly.

Need to get tough on S. Korea because that's all they respect.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: time to threaten them with tariffs and mean it. If those aren't enough, then sanctions!

Different day, same story. These anti Japan people are doing this to try and upset the celebration and party atmosphere in Japan.

Japan claims that the issue of compensation arising from its 1910-1945 colonization of the Korean Peninsula was settled

These alleged incidents took place up to 109 years ago. Its been settled by both sides, forever. And people still complain. Moon is getting desperate to hold onto power.

Today  09:17 am JST @alwaysspeakingwisdom

> In America, they have a saying: "The winners focus on winning. The losers focus on the winners" South Korea and China are losers. Japan is a winner. 

Absolutely amazing summary. Words of wisdom. Thank you.

Not again and Not this time.

They are now trying to be No. 2 in Asia (After China) but SK netizens have become so greedy day by day that they will do anything to win that position. And main target they have chosen is this against Japan.

Almost every time they talk about this on varities of show and news (if only comment section were in Koreaherald site) and Youtube World is already favoring SK.

But it's good Japan doesn't care. Good defense so far but now it's time play the offence.

Go!! Go !! South Korea !! And when the South is done, it will be the North's turn.

I know , I'm being contra- narrative here and I respect everyone's opinion on this issue. As for me ? I know in my DNA the terrible history and the incredible ability of the Japanese telling believable lies. Just like most of you posters I was pro- Japanese to the hilt....so much so that when I first heard of the Japanese " abduction" issue I was ready to pick a gun and lead the charge to ERASE N.Korea . Now I look back and think what an idiot I was then. What happened to me ? The Japanese did !!

I pray none of you goes through what they did to me and others because I wouldn't want you here with me. It's best that way. Feel free to express yourselves but in the end just let the Koreans pursue their case to its logical conclusion because if you would want the same were you in their place.

Most of us came to Japan yesterday and these things happened well before yesterday and much of the far east " history " was dominated by Japan probably because of its clout...until recently.

Japan should start to do something, it is acting too soft with South Korea, and South Korea is taking advantage of it. At least, it could ban kpop crap, after all South Korea still bans partially Japanese music. Instead, Japan welcomes kpop artists and kpop artists treat Japan as a cow to milk. I don't understand why Japan doesn't defend itself properly. Japan apologized enough, South Koreans want only MONEY. They act like beggars.

You don't see China asking for money to Japan on a daily basis, because China is actually powerful. South Koreans make their Country look weak and poor.

South Korea are only doing what Japan has been does. Exploit every opportunity for a fast buck.

@Ex_Res: when did Japan do the same? South Korea is embarassing itself. I can already imagine all the fake data produced by people who claim they had some family members involved in this labor slaves thing. I thought South Koreans had some pride, but they want to buy home and stuff thanks to Japanese taxpayers mi, that's all. I guess with almost $ 90,000 you can buy a home somewhere in South Korea. Literally beggars, you don't see people from Vietnam, Philippines, China, etc. acting this way. People in these Countries are hard workers.

Japanese taxpayers money*

Don’t ban the K-pop and cosmetics. The younger generation actually enjoy sharing their culture.

Another thing: Western Countries shouldn't support South Korea in this crap. South Koreans could set a dangerous precedent. What if all Europe's former colonies start to act this way? India with the UK, and so on. Europe is already broken, we don't need also this for facts happened decades ago. Today people are innocent.

@quercetum: I think Japanese young people prefer to ban some crap music and cosmetics rather than lose their Money.

@BigYen

Can you copy-paste here the exact text where they admit and apologize for enslaving Korean women? I don't see it.

And also, the Japanese are relying on naive non-japanese speakers to buy these non-apologies. If you actually speak Japanese and read the original text in Japanese, you would see that there is no admission of guilt. The words are very carefully picked and constructed to convey a vague, easily interpreted double meaning. In English, you cannot speak without clarifying who did what, but in Japanese, you can, and that's what they are relying on. In all of these non-apologies, there is no admission of guilt, nor apology for what they did, there is vague wording of "regrettable bad things that happened in the past". They use the term "war" in the abstract, like it happened out of the blue, and not as an act of aggression on their behalf. They remove the subject to make it unclear who are they referring to. I could go on and on with why these are not real apologizes, every Japanese knows they are now, but most important of all, every one of these so called apologizes was followed by a visit to the yasukuni thus taking back everything that was just said, or indirect denial of what was just said by the same author, or a few weeks after it. Abe himself had denied any wrong doings so many countless times, it's comedic to even suggest he is sorry about it, let alone apologize for it.

@BigYen

July 1995: Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama said in a statement: "The problem of the so-called wartime comfort women is one such scar, which, with the involvement of the Japanese military forces of the time, seriously stained the honor and dignity of many women. This is entirely inexcusable. I offer my profound apology to all those who, as wartime comfort women, suffered emotional and physical wounds that can never be closed"

Where's the admission of guilt? It says that "the problem of so called", first vague and open to interpretation term "so called", which could, and is interpreted by Japanese people as "its not really comfort women", and then it says "stained the honor and dignity of many women" "with the involvement of the Japanese military at the time".

So it doesn't say that the Japanese military forced these women into sexual slavery, it says that their dignity was stained with the involvement of the Japanese military, this, combined with the first "so called" is interpreted to mean that they were mere prostitutes sold by their parents to the Japanese military.

Japanese language and culture is EXTREMELY, i cannot state how much extremely contextual and subtle. Every single word matters. There was no direct admission of guilt, and there was no connection and association between the comfort women being enslaved by the military. Words are carefully chosen to create an opening for interpretation. This very much conforms to the Japanese narrative that they were prostitutes sold to the military. The text never rejects this narrative, it only reinforces it by not specifying who did what to these women.

At least 15 Prime Ministers of Japan have made public statements acknowledging either the comfort women directly, or general war guilt and moral responsibility.

Can you copy-paste their statements?

Look at the end of the article what it says:

Criticisms regarding the degree and formality of apology, issued as a statement or delivered person-to-person to the country addressed, and the perception by some that some apologies are later retracted or contradicted by statements or actions of Japan, among others.

In October 2006, Prime Minister Shinzō Abe's apology was followed on the same day by a group of 80 Japanese lawmakers' visit to the Yasukuni Shrine which enshrines more than 1,000 convicted war criminals. Two years after the apology, Shinzo Abe also denied that the Imperial Japanese military had forced comfort women into sexual slavery during World War II . In addition, Prime Minister Abe claimed that the Class A war criminals "are not war criminals under the laws of Japan". He also cast doubt on Murayama apology by saying, "The Abe Cabinet is not necessarily keeping to it" and by questioning the definition used in the apology by saying, "There is no definitive answer either in academia or in the international community on what constitutes aggression. Things that happen between countries appear different depending on which side you're looking from."

This is why no thinking person accepts these statements as actual apologies, and this is people demand real apologies. And this is not just limited to Abe, but all of the people who have ever made any statements of apology. They were either followed by denial, or visit to the Yasukuni, which in Japanese culture means indirectly rejecting what was just said. Or the statements were so vague and unclear, that they did not contain any admission of guilt.

As for your last comment, i told you that, the money Japan gave to Korea were not compensation for the suffering of the victims, but economic aid. US gave economic aid to many European countries after the war, the money were in the form of loans and grants. They could've gave the money to individual citizens or the government, in either case, the money were for economic aid, not compensating for what you have done to them. Japan gave loans and grants to Korea, the money were for economic aid, NOT compensation for the victims.

> @Ilove coffee.

The J-govt. spends millions trying to lobby foreign governments not to erect statues, and to remove all mentions of the comfort women from their history books. 

They're very successful especially with the Philippines, Indonesia and my country too, where our former ambassadors are the errand boys and fixers for the J-govs agenda.

@IloveCoffee

Japanese language and culture is EXTREMELY, i cannot state how much extremely contextual and subtle

Read the letters IN JAPANESE from ex-Japanese PMs given to each Comfort Women through AWF.

Whether it is too contextual or too subtle for you, that's your problem to read in the context of what the letters were for for.

https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/area/taisen/letter.html

Remember, 34 out of 47 women accepted and tried to end the issue. There were also women who themselves visit Yasukuni to meet their lovers sleeping in Yasukuni. Comfort women critisizing other comfort woen for teling BS lies. Nonetheless, Japanese government kept apologizing as acknowledging it's ultimate responsibilities as historical governor of the peninsula during the period. Who actually decived, forced, enslaved Korean women? They were all their fellow Koreans. That's the fact.

As for your last comment, i told you that, the money Japan gave to Korea were not compensation for the suffering of the victims, but economic aid. US gave economic aid to many European countries after the war, the money were in the form of loans and grants. They could've gave the money to individual citizens or the government, in either case, the money were for economic aid, not compensating for what you have done to them. Japan gave loans and grants to Korea, the money were for economic aid, NOT compensation for the victims.

Tell that to 1000 wartime Korean labors who're currently suing South Korean Government. Tell that to Moon who were right arm man at Roh Moo-hyun administration which actually acknowledged the character of those grants. Japan used up half of it's foreign ccy reserve then and it's not through UN or int'l fund but direct to S.K.

OR READ DIALOGUE OF 1965 TREATY by YOURSELF