South Korea makes no response to Japan’s request over wartime labor

June 19, 2019

Tokyo--The South Korean government has not responded to the Japanese government's request related to a series of recent South Korean Supreme Court rulings ordering Japanese companies to pay compensation to South Koreans who claim to have been forced into wartime labor.

Under the current situation, the two countries now seem likely to forgo a bilateral summit between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-in on the sidelines of a Group of 20 leaders' meeting in Japan on June 28-29, sources familiar with the situation said.

On May 20, the Japanese government requested the South Korean side in writing to appoint members of an arbitration committee on the wartime labor rulings within 30 days, or by Tuesday, under a 1965 bilateral treaty on claims and property.

Tokyo made the request after abandoning its initial plan to settle the matter through bilateral talks, also under the treaty.

"The South Korean government is obliged by the treaty to respond to an arbitration offer," Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a press conference on Tuesday.

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono has urged Seoul to come up with a solution to the wartime labor issue by the G-20 summit.

The bilateral treaty calls on both countries to commission third countries to select the members of an arbitration committee after either of them fails to appoint committee members within the 30-day period.

The Japanese government takes the position that the wartime labor issue was settled by the treaty. It is poised to continue pressing South Korea to take relevant action on the court rulings, while suggesting its readiness to bring the case to the International Court of Justice. Jiji Press