President Wen says “it’s embarrassing” in Japanese government’s decision to compensate comfort women

President Moon Jae-in said, “It’s true that it’s embarrassing” in the recent ruling that acknowledged the Japanese government’s responsibility to compensate the Japanese military’comfort women’ victims.

At a New Year’s press conference held at the Blue House on the 18th, President Moon responded to a Japanese media reporter’s question,’Do you think Japanese government assets should be seized or sold?’

President Moon said, “The past is a past accident, and the future-oriented development between Korea and Japan must proceed as it is. It is never wise to stop cooperation in other fields by linking all issues.”

He admitted, “The agreement between the two governments in 2015 on the issue of’comfort women’ was an official agreement.” This is a little different from what President Moon made during a luncheon in 2018 by inviting elderly women victims of’comfort women’ to the Blue House. At the time, President Moon apologized as President for negotiating an agreement that was contrary to the will of the victims, saying, “The last agreement was against the principles of truth and justice, and both the contents and procedures were wrong.”

However, President Moon said on the same day, “On the basis that the 2015 agreement was an official agreement between the two countries, we will discuss between Korea and Japan to find a solution that even the elderly victims of’comfort women’ can agree.”

Regarding compensation for damages, he expressed his thoughts, “It is not desirable for the relationship between Korea and Japan to execute the judgment in a way that is monetized through forced execution.”

In October 2018, the Supreme Court alliances confirmed the liability of Shinil-cheol (currently Nippon Steel) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for damages to victims of forced labor during the Japanese occupation, but compensation has not yet been paid. This is because the court accepted the victims’ request for seizure of Japanese steel’s Korean assets, but did not proceed to the actual sale, considering the relationship between Korea and Japan.

In the case of’comfort women’ victims, the court ruled that the Japanese government pay 100 million won in compensation, but the seizure of assets by the Japanese government, not Japanese companies, is inevitable diplomatic friction.

President Moon stressed that “I believe that the two governments can agree on a way to allow victims to agree and that the ROK government can solve the problem step by step by persuading it as much as possible.”

Reporter Lee Ga-young [email protected]