Bill on Japanese wartime labor fund submitted to South Korea parliament

SEOUL – South Korean parliamentarians Wednesday submitted a bill to invite donations from Japanese and South Korean companies and the public to provide funds for compensation over Japanese wartime labor.

The 14 lawmakers, including National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang, said in the bill that they aim to develop future-oriented South Korea-Japan ties by offering solutions to resolve ongoing feuds over issues relating to history.

The Supreme Court last October ruled that Japanese firms should compensate South Korean plaintiffs for wartime labor.

The companies have not complied as Japan holds that such issues relating to its 1910-45 colonization of Korea were “finally and completely” settled under a bilateral pact signed in 1965.

Moon’s bill faced huge opposition before submission from a team of lawyers working for the South Korean plaintiffs as they view it as not clearly seeking Japanese contrition.

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