After months of private negotiations, South Korea and Japan agreed to resolve the issue of compensation for victims of Japan’s wartime forced labor programs. 

The agreement put to rest a diplomatic issue that generated severe animosity in bilateral relations for much of the past five years. But many are now concerned that this agreement might not last long and wind up making relations between the two neighbors even worse. 

Between 1939 to 1945, the Japanese government attempted to resolve wartime labor shortages by forcingaround 700,000 to 800,000 Koreans to work for private Japanese companies, where many suffered injuries and