Tokyo Urges Seoul to Address “Illegality” of Forced Labor Ruling

November 8, 2018

Tokyo--Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga urged South Korea on Thursday to address the "illegality" of a recent ruling by the country's top court against a major Japanese company over wartime forced labor.

"There has emerged a situation of South Korea violating international law," Suga told a press conference.

The previous day, South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon issued a statement criticizing Japanese government leaders for repeating extreme remarks on the forced labor ruling.

But Suga claimed, "The ruling clearly violates the Japan-South Korea compensation claims agreement," concluded when the two countries normalized their diplomatic relations in 1965, following the end of World War II.

"We're closely watching what specific action the South Korean government will take" following the ruling, the top Japanese government spokesman said.

Meanwhile, Suga underscored the importance of fully implementing the U.S.-North Korea agreement reached at their leaders' first-ever summit in June toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Suga made the comment in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's remarks at a press conference on Wednesday that a second summit between him and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is expected to take place "sometime early next year."

"We'll fully cooperate with the United States," Suga said. Jiji Press