Main opposition calls on Yoon to apologize over gov't compensation plan for forced labor victims

SEOUL, March 7 (Yonhap) -- The floor leader of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) on Tuesday called on President Yoon Suk Yeol to apologize over the government's decision to compensate victims of Japan's wartime forced labor without the involvement of Japanese firms.

"The decision is an act of serious humiliation for victims and all our people," Rep. Park Hong-keun said in a party meeting, held a day after the government announced its compensation plan for forced labor victims.

On Monday, the government made public a plan to create a foundation funded by domestic companies that benefited from a 1965 normalization treaty between the two countries to compensate the victims on behalf of responsible Japanese firms.

The DP floor leader urged Yoon to immediately apologize to the people and the victims and withdraw the plan, calling it a result of "humiliating and incompetent diplomacy."

"The resolution the Yoon Suk Yeol government came up with is complete subservience and a denial of the country's dignity, respect toward the people and the reason the country exists, which is the protection of its citizens," he said.

Park also said South Korean firms that provide donations to the foundation will be branded as "pro-Japan," calling for a parliamentary inquiry on the matter.

The forced labor issue has been the biggest thorn in relations between Seoul and Tokyo, as many Koreans had been forced into wartime labor during Japan's colonial rule of Korea from 1910-45.

The DP and some victims and civic groups have expressed outrage at the government's decision, saying that it makes no sense to compensate forced labor victims with public donations, rather than money from Japanese companies that exploited forced labor victims.

nyway@yna.co.kr
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