By Kim Eun-young and Lee Jihae
Seoul | Sept. 5, 2019

Amid high tension between Korea and Japan over their shared history, a group of Japanese lawyers and civic group leaders on Sept. 5 gathered in Seoul with their Korean counterparts at a symposium to discuss solutions to the issues raised over Japan's forced labor of Koreans during World War II.

About 150 Japanese lawyers including Kenji Utsunomiya, former president of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, civic leaders and citizens attended the event organized by the Seoul Bar Association. The Japanese side emphasized that the essence of the forced labor issue was "human rights" and that this issue thus should not be approached in a diplomatic, political or economic manner.

"Japan's forced labor was a grave violation of human rights that coerced people into working in brutal environments," Utsunomiya said, adding that this issue was between the victims and the offending Japanese corporations.

Another lawyer, Hidekazu Zaima, who has filed a lawsuit against Mitsubishi Heavy Industries demanding that the corporation pay damages to its forced labor victims, blasted Japan's recent economic sanctions on Korea as a violation of the international principle of human rights.

"Japan's strengthening of export regulations and removal of Korea from its whitelist of preferential trading partners are the worst policies," he added.

In July, Tokyo enacted such sanctions on Korea as apparent retaliation to the Korean Supreme Court ruling last year that ordered Japanese corporations to pay reparations to Korean victims of forced labor during World War II.

Korean lawyer Lim Jae-seong and Ryu Yeong-jae, a judge from the Chuncheon District Court in Gangwon-do Province, explained the process of filing a lawsuit against Japan's use of forced labor.

The Japanese lawyers emphasized that the 1965 Korean-Japan Claims Settlement Agreement never terminated an individual's right to file a claim against Japan.

Utsunomiya said, "The 1965 Korea-Japan treaty was ratified to resolve financial matters, civil cases, and bond and liability issues between the two countries."

"It is common sense that based on international human rights law, an individual's right to file a claim is not terminated by an agreement between countries."

Zaima also quoted Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono as saying in November last year that an individual's right to sue was never terminated by the agreement, saying, "The Japanese government asserts that the right to file a claim was completely and resolutely resolved. Yet this assertion lacks consistency and a clear explanation."

The Japanese side at the symposium demanded from their government a sincere apology, measures to prevent a recurrence of human rights violations and formation of a coalition of civic organizations from both nations.

Utsunomiya said, "Japanese corporations must accept the verdict of the Korean Supreme Court, issue an apology and pay damages that are acceptable by the victims."

He also proposed the installation of "The Statue of Peace" in front of the National Diet in Tokyo to remind Japan not to violate human rights again. The statue represents the image of a Korean "comfort woman," a euphemism used by the imperial Japanese army for a sex slave in the early 20th century.

Hideki Yano, representing the Japanese civic group Joint Action for Resolving the Issue of Forced Mobilization and Rectifying History, pledged to continue holding lectures and running online sites where people can share their awareness of Japan's forced labor.

From Sept. 5-6, Japanese in Tokyo and Osaka criticized Japanese media for instigating anti-Korean sentiment in Japan and lambasted the Japanese government's response to the string of events occurring in the wake of the bilateral trade row.

eykim86@korea.kr