Nearly 60 percent of South Koreans said they are against a move to resolve a wartime labor row between the country and Japan that would see Seoul compensate former Korean laborers, a public opinion poll found.

The result by Gallup Korea reflects public antagonism toward the resolution, which would not require direct payments from Japanese companies, regarding alleged forced labor during Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

The survey found 59 percent of respondents are opposed to the plan as they believe it provides no apology or reparations from Japan, while 35 percent said the solution will help bilateral relations and national interest.

The South Korean government announced last week its decision to compensate wartime laborers under [the Empire of] Japan’s 1910–1945 colonization through a government foundation with donations from South Korean companies.

The move came after two Japanese firms — Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd and Nippon Steel Corp — were ordered in separate rulings by South Korea’s Supreme Court in 2018 to pay damages to former Korean laborers and their relatives over alleged forced labor during World War II.

The two Japanese companies have refused to comply with the South Korean top court rulings, as the Japanese government has maintained that all issues stemming from its colonization of the Korean Peninsula were settled under a bilateral agreement signed in 1965.

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About half of respondents in their 60s and 70s expressed support. But only around 20% of those in their 30s and 40s — a demographic that takes a less favorable view of the Yoon administration — responded positively.

Compensating wartime laborers has long been a source of friction between South Korea and Japan. Lawsuits brought by former laborers against big Japanese industrial groups played a rôle in the fraying of bilateral ties over the past few years.

The Japanese government maintains [that] all such claims were resolved by a 1965 treaty between the two countries.

Asked about relations between Seoul and Tokyo, 31% of respondents said ties should be improved as quickly as possible, while 64% said there is no hurry to do so unless Japan changes its attitude.

A senior official from South Korea’s Foreign Ministry told reporters Friday that Seoul did not envision the accused companies participating in the plan in the short term. The government is not closing the door on the possibility of contributions from Japanese businesses, however, and hopes they will do so in the long term, the official said.

The American Chamber of Commerce in Korea has welcomed the effort to improve South Korea-Japan relations and said it will donate to the foundation. U.S. President Joe Biden also welcomed the compensation initiative.

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