Tokyo eyeing arbitration over wartime labor issues with Seoul

February 8, 2019

Tokyo--The Japanese government is expected to ask the South Korean government to set up an arbitration committee on wartime labor issues based on a 1965 bilateral agreement.

Tokyo is likely to take the step because Seoul had made no response as of Friday to a request by the Japanese side to hold bilateral talks based on the 1965 accord to settle property claims, concluded when the two Asian countries normalized their diplomatic relations.

It is uncertain whether Seoul will agree to establish the committee to discuss South Korean Supreme Court rulings ordering Japanese companies to pay South Korean plaintiffs compensation for what they claim as forced labor during World War II.

Japan requested talks with South Korea just after the court ordered on Jan. 9 to seize assets of Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. <5401> over wartime labor.

Tokyo asked Seoul to reply within 30 days, but no clear answer has been given, Japanese officials said.

"The South Korean government has so far taken no concrete steps to correct the violation of the (1965) agreement," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference Friday.

"It's very serious."

The agreement stipulates that a three-member arbitration committee representing Japan, South Korea and a third country would resolve claims-related problems between the two governments.

But the establishment of such a committee requires the consent of both governments. Jiji Press