Lawyers for South Korean plaintiffs in wartime labor compensation cases against Japanese companies strongly opposed Wednesday a compensation plan unveiled by the head of South Korea's parliament the previous day.

Speaker Moon Hee-sang, in seeking to mend South Korea's frayed ties with Japan, has proposed a bill to invite donations from Japanese and South Korean companies and the public to provide funds to compensate victims of forced labor.

In a statement released at a news conference in Gwangju in the country's southwest, the lawyers called for the plan's withdrawal, saying it would amount to relieving the Japanese government of its responsibility without its sincere apology.