{"id":2198462,"date":"2022-08-23T19:12:19","date_gmt":"2022-08-23T10:12:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nknews.org\/pro\/?p=2198462"},"modified":"2023-04-05T16:11:43","modified_gmt":"2023-04-05T07:11:43","slug":"seoul-avoids-diplomatic-disaster-in-forced-labor-dispute-with-japan-for-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2022\/08\/seoul-avoids-diplomatic-disaster-in-forced-labor-dispute-with-japan-for-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Seoul avoids diplomatic disaster in forced labor dispute with Japan \u2014 for now"},"content":{"rendered":"
South Korea and Japan narrowly avoided a <\/span>much-feared<\/span><\/a> disaster in bilateral relations last week. But that does not mean it can\u2019t still occur.<\/span><\/p>\n On Friday, South Korea\u2019s Supreme Court chose <\/span>not to deliver a ruling<\/span><\/a> on an appeal lodged by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in a controversial case over whether the Japanese company must pay damages to Koreans who worked as forced laborers at its plans during World War II.<\/span><\/p>\n The Japanese industrial giant <\/span>filed<\/span><\/a> the appeal in April against an <\/span>earlier South Korean court order<\/span><\/a> that implied the plaintiff should confiscate the company\u2019s trademark and patent rights worth some 500 million won (about $372,000) and use it to fund compensation for the laborers.<\/span><\/p>\n According to South Korean law, the Supreme Court has four months to decide whether to deliberate on an appeal or dismiss it, so the deadline to make a decision or else provide a rationale for further delay had come. The court dismisses <\/span>some 75%<\/span><\/a> of all civil case appeals, and there is no way to reverse the decision.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n If the Supreme Court had dismissed Mitsubishi\u2019s appeal, the company would have likely had its assets seized in short order. The plaintiffs and their lawyers have <\/span>finished<\/span><\/a> nearly all preparations for the eventual confiscation and sale of Mitsubishi\u2019s property, and the absence of a Supreme Court decision remains the only legal obstacle to starting procedures.<\/span><\/p>\n Such a turn of events would lead to a massive diplomatic scandal. The Japanese side, including the government, business community and <\/span>general public<\/span><\/a>, firmly believe that the 1965 Treaty on Basic Relations between Seoul and Tokyo resolved all issues related to Japan\u2019s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. They see South Korean attempts to revive these issues as significant violations of the treaty.<\/span><\/p>\n For now, the Supreme Court has postponed its decision by not taking a definitive stand. But it won\u2019t be able to put off a decision indefinitely, even though the deadline to dismiss the appeal without providing reason has passed, and a ruling against Mitsubishi would also deliver a likely fatal blow to the Yoon administration\u2019s ambitions of improving ties with Tokyo.<\/span><\/p>\n