Demands from
China and KOrea
Header Picture Courtesy to Chicago Tribune
The hardship of Koreans and Chinese workers continue to the present day. While Japan may have signed the treaties with China and Korea and provided financial aid after the war, many Koreans and Chinese former forced laborers came out to demand compensations for their labors. Japan apologized and compensated partially for the damages, but the total sum of money did not amount to what the plaintiffs demanded. These forced laborers also criticized Japan for not educating their present generation about their atrocities since the topic remains unknown to the public.
In the Japanese Supreme Court’s ruling of 2007, the Japanese government provided medical compensation of 1.2 million yen to former Korean atomic bomb survivors and forced laborers.[1] Nonetheless, this payment served only as a medical compensation and did not fulfill the unpaid wages during the war. In the Japan-South Korea treaty of 1965 and Japan-China peace treaty of 1972, Japan provided both countries with financial assistance, and thus, believed that it had cleared its name from future compensations. These treaties were brought up by the Japanese as a defense against Chinese and Korean plaintiffs. However, many argued that these |
treaties were more focused on developing the infrastructures for the state and fulfilling the desires of Japanese enterprises, rather than compensating directly to the forced laborer.
Many cases of the plaintiffs that were brought up were often rejected by the Japanese government. For example, 46 plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against the Japanese government in 1998.[2] The entire claim up to that year amounted to $4.3 million. Unfortunately, the Hiroshima District Court dismissed it on March 25, 1999. The court argued that since the action occurred during the warring era, the current Japanese government bore no responsibility. Moreover, even if the court ordered the company to pay, the compensation did not amount to what the plaintiffs asked for. Kyoto District court made Japan Metallurgy Company pay $31,500, which was $164,000 less than demanded.[3] South Korean government (ROK) argued that Japan needs to pay directly to the people they had recruited for their war efforts. The government also brought up multiple treaties that Japan had broken. For example, Japan violated their own Civil Code. Article 709 states that a person who violated the protected rights of others must pay compensation to the damages done.[4] Article 415 allows workers to sue the obligor if they are treated badly. Finally, article 715 forced businesses to pay compensation to the workers they used. The ROK noted that Japan was obstructing the Plaintiffs’ rights to sue. |
Chinese Plaintiffs at a Press Conference with Mitsubishi (Photos above from Chicago Tribune)
The Japanese deception campaign in the 1950s, where the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan tried to cover the labor issue, angered its neighbors. Although, the deception campaign had faded away, a lot of the Japanese public today know very little about wartime issues of Japan. The hardship of Koreans and Chinese workers continue to the present day. While Japan may have signed the treaties with China and Korea and provided financial aid after the war, many Koreans and Chinese former forced laborers came out to demand compensations for their labors. Japan apologized and compensated partially for the damages, but the total sum of money did not amount to what the plaintiffs demanded. These forced laborers also criticized Japan for not educating their present generation about their atrocities since the topic remains unknown to the public.
Sources
[1]Palmer, David. "Korean Hibakusha, Japan's Supreme Court & the International Community: Can the U.S. & Japan Confront Forced Labor & Atomic Bombing?"
[2] Nam, Steven S. "From Individual to Collective Restitution: Recasting Corporate Accountability for Korean Forced Labor in the Second World War." University of California, Davis 22.
[3]Webster, Timothy. "Sisyphus in a Coal Mine: Responses to Slave Labor in Japan
and The United States." Cornell Law Review 91 (August 2010).
[4] Japanese Civil Code: http://www.moj.go.jp/content/000056024.pdf
[2] Nam, Steven S. "From Individual to Collective Restitution: Recasting Corporate Accountability for Korean Forced Labor in the Second World War." University of California, Davis 22.
[3]Webster, Timothy. "Sisyphus in a Coal Mine: Responses to Slave Labor in Japan
and The United States." Cornell Law Review 91 (August 2010).
[4] Japanese Civil Code: http://www.moj.go.jp/content/000056024.pdf