Japan’s Abe Eying Concrete Steps against S. Korean Labor Ruling

January 6, 2019

Tokyo--Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in a television program broadcast on Sunday, showed his government's intention to take concrete steps against a recent South Korean top court ruling that ordered a Japanese company to pay compensation over wartime labor.

The Supreme Court of Korea on Oct. 30, 2018, ordered Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. <5401> to pay damage to some South Korean plaintiffs who claim to have been brought to Japan during World War II to work for Nippon Steel's predecessor. The Korean Peninsula was under Japanese colonial rule at the time.

The plaintiffs' side said earlier this month that they had filed with a local court for the seizure of Nippon Steel assets in South Korea, claiming that the Japanese firm, despite the top court verdict, failed to meet a deadline set by the plaintiffs for showing an intention to hold talks with them on the compensation issue.

In the Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK) program, which was recorded on Friday, Abe said the asset seizure request was "extremely regrettable," adding, "I take the development seriously."

The Japanese leader said, "I have instructed relevant ministries and agencies to consider concrete steps based on international law so that we can take a firm response over the matter."

The South Korean top court ruling should have never been made, in light of international law, Abe said, reiterating Tokyo's position that the wartime labor issue was fully resolved under a 1965 bilateral agreement with South Korea.

Abe said that he aims to promote Japan-Russia negotiations on concluding a bilateral World War II peace treaty, at his planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit to Russia late this month.

Tokyo and Moscow have still been unable to conclude a peace treaty to formally end their wartime hostilities, due to their longstanding territorial row over four northwestern Pacific islands. The Russian-controlled islands, known as the Northern Territories in Japan, were seized by the former Soviet Union from Japan at the end of the war.

Putin is apparently concerned that U.S. military bases may be set up on the islands once they are handed over to Japan.

"A Japan-Russia peace treaty will be a plus for regional peace and stability, and also for the United States," Abe stressed, trying to dispel such concerns.

At their meeting in Singapore in November 2018, Abe and Putin agreed to accelerate the peace treaty negotiations based on the 1956 Japan-Soviet joint declaration, which stipulated that two of the four islands--the Habomais and Shikotan as they are called in Japan--be handed over to Japan after the conclusion of a peace treaty.

Elsewhere in the TV program, Abe underscored the importance of promoting debates on constitutional revisions at the Diet, Japan's parliament, saying that each political party needs to present its idea.

There is no change in his hope to see a revised constitution take effect in 2020, Abe said. Still, he said that the schedule for the entry into force of a possible revised constitution will be decided by the Diet.

Abe reiterated that he "is not considering at all" dissolving the House of Representatives, the all-important lower chamber of the Diet, and setting a subsequent general election to coincide with a triennial election for the House of Councillors, the upper chamber, slated for summer this year.

At the same time, Abe stressed that his administration "has been able to implement major reform measures that split public opinion in two, by winning five national elections," including the 2012 Lower House election, which was won by Abe's Liberal Democratic Party and led to its comeback to power and his return to the post of prime minister.

On work to select the name of the country's next era to succeed the current Heisei era, Abe said that the government "hopes to choose a name that can be accepted widely by the public and can take deep root in the lives of Japanese people."

The name of the next era is scheduled to be announced on April 1, ahead of Emperor Akihito's abdication on April 30 and Crown Prince Naruhito's enthronement on May 1, when the new era is slated to begin. Jiji Press