Hayashi: Japan To Wait And See If S.korea Can Solve Wartime Labor Issue
Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa says Japan will watch closely to see if South Korea can produce an acceptable solution to settle the issue of lawsuits filed against Japanese companies over wartime labor.
Hayashi spoke to reporters on Tuesday, one day after he and South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin met in Tokyo and agreed to seek an early solution to the issue.
Park said that Seoul would work to come up with a desirable solution. He noted this would be done before assets seized from Japanese firms are liquidated to compensate South Korean plaintiffs in the lawsuits.
Hayashi told reporters that he will wait and see whether South Korea will do as Park said.
Hayashi stressed if the assets of Japanese firms are cashed out, it would lead to serious consequences for bilateral ties. He added Japan has repeatedly told South Korea that such a development must be avoided.
South Korean courts have ordered Japanese companies to pay compensation to people who say they were forced to work for the firms during World War Two.
The Japanese government says any right to claims was settled completely and finally in 1965, when Japan and South Korea normalized ties.
The government says the rulings and related judicial procedures are in breach of international law, and has been urging South Korea to rectify the situation.