S. Korean Plaintiffs Not “Requisitioned Workers”: Japan

November 10, 2018

Tokyo, Nov. 10 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government has unified the term it uses to describe South Korean plaintiffs seeking compensation for wartime labor from a Japanese steelmaker as "workers from the Korean Peninsula," switching from the previously used "requisitioned civilian workers."

In the lawsuit, South Korea's Supreme Court last month ordered Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. <5401> to pay compensation to the four plaintiffs for labor in Japan during World War II.

With the term change, the government hopes to make it clear that the plaintiffs were not forcibly taken to Japan, officials said.

"The plaintiffs were not requisitioned," Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono told a press conference on Friday.

At a House of Representatives Budget Committee meeting on Nov. 1, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the plaintiffs came to Japan after applying for a recruitment program.

Abe noted that there were three forms for recruiting workers from the Korean Peninsula--applications to job offers by companies, job placements mediated by the public sector and forced recruitment--and suggested that the three should be strictly distinguished. The peninsula was under Japanese colonial rule from 1910 to 1945.

Soon after the latest ruling, some lawmakers of Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party said the plaintiffs came to Japan after applying to job offers.

On Nov. 1, the LDP's Foreign Affairs Division told Kono that the term "requisitioned workers" is misleading and asked for a better description. In reply, Kono showed a positive stance.

By contrast, the South Korean government calls the plaintiffs victims of forced requisition.

A senior official of Japan's Foreign Ministry criticized South Korea's stance, saying it is part of Seoul's image strategy.

The two countries' relations are unlikely to improve anytime soon, given the war of words between them over the ruling, observers said. Jiji Press