POSCO to donate additional 4 bln won for compensation of forced labor victims

SEOUL, March 15 (Yonhap) -- POSCO Holdings Inc., the country's leading steelmaker, said Wednesday it has decided to donate 4 billion won (US$3.1 million) to support a plan floated by the South Korean government to compensate the victims of forced labor under Japan's 1910-1945 occupation.

In 2012, POSCO promised to donate 10 billion won to the foundation. So far, the steelmaker has chipped in 6 billion won.

Earlier this month, the Seoul government proposed compensating more than a dozen victims of Japan's wartime forced labor through a Seoul-backed public foundation, instead of direct payment from responsible Japanese firms.

Under the scheme, the Foundation for Victims of Forced Mobilization, affiliated with the interior ministry, will collect "voluntary" donations from the private sector, according to the government.

The government stressed that the donations will be voluntary, but South Korean companies that benefited from a 1965 bilateral treaty with Japan, such as POSCO, are expected to drum up support for the scheme.

Along with POSCO Holdings, the state-run Korea Electric Power Corp., tobacco maker KT&G and 13 Korean companies are deemed to have benefited from the treaty.

sam@yna.co.kr
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