The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) on Monday passed a resolution through the parliamentary foreign affairs committee urging the government to withdraw its decision to compensate wartime forced labor victims via donations from South Korean companies without participation from the Japanese government. Ruling People Power Party (PPP) lawmakers boycotted the committee meeting. They accused DP lawmakers of organizing the session without consultation to impede President Yoon Suk-yeol’s upcoming summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

Although the presidential office stated that Yoon chose to pursue the deal with the aim of moving toward a future-oriented relationship with Japan, the plan has come under heavy criticism from some victims, civic groups and opposition parties. Yang Geum-deok, a 94-year-old victim, who also attended the parliamentary meeting, said, “I will never receive such money even if I starve to death.” The DP denounced the decision as the worst diplomatic humiliation the country has ever seen.