By Lee Hana

Former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has urged his nation's Abe administration to reverse its decision to exclude Korea from its whitelist of trusted trading partners.

Attending the 2019 One Asia Convention at Seoul's Lotte Hotel, Hatoyama told a follow-up meeting with the media that Japan's economic sanctions are a "misjudgment" that should be canceled as soon as possible. "We shouldn't forget that many Japanese believe that the whitelist exclusion was a bad move," he added.

On if he thought the individual claims filed by Koreans forced to work for Japan during World War II had been settled by the 1965 bilateral treaty, he said, "In 1991, the director of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's treaties bureau, Yanai Shunji, said an individual's right to file a claim was not terminated, even if claims had been settled at the country level."

He also stressed that apologies to the victims should be made until they are satisfied.

Hatoyama served as prime minister from September 2009 to June 2010. During his term, he apologized for the atrocities committed by his country during its colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula and World War II. After stepping down as prime minister, he caused a stir in 2015 by visiting Seoul's Seodaemun Prison History Hall, a colonial-era prison, to offer his heartfelt apologies and knelt in prayer.

hlee10@korea.kr