"Waited 76 Years... Mitsubishi Must Apologize and Compensate"

Japanese Forced Labor Victims Hold Press Conference Urging "Implementation of Supreme Court Ruling"

The Citizens' Group for Grandmothers of the Forced Labor Military Comfort Women held a press conference on the morning of the 29th at the Gwangju City Council Citizen Communication Room under the theme "Mitsubishi, Apologize and Compensate."

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] Voices have emerged demanding that the Japanese war crime company 'Mitsubishi Heavy Industries,' which was ruled against in the retrial of the damages lawsuit filed by victims of forced labor during the Japanese occupation, "immediately comply with the compensation order."

The Citizens' Group for Grandmothers of the Working Spirit held a press conference on the morning of the 29th at the Gwangju City Council Citizen Communication Room, condemning, "We have waited 76 years. Mitsubishi must apologize and compensate."

The civic group pointed out, "It has been exactly three years today since the Supreme Court issued a compensation order to the defendant Mitsubishi Heavy Industries on November 29, 2018, but the ruling has not been enforced so far," adding, "They have repeatedly refused not only to apologize but also to engage in dialogue to resolve the issue."

They condemned, "While Mitsubishi mocks the Korean judiciary's ruling, two of the five plaintiffs have passed away," and "There was an opportunity to apologize while the deceased were still alive, but it was rejected."

The group also took a sharp stance against the Japanese government.

The organization criticized, "Going even further, the Japanese government has taken the lead as a spoiler. They have pressured companies to block the enforcement of the ruling and even carried out ruthless economic retaliation measures, saying they would 'cut off the lifeline of the Korean economy.'"

They continued, "Forced labor, a crime against humanity, could not have been carried out without the involvement of Japan's state power from the beginning," and "Even if they repent a hundred times, it is not enough, yet the Japanese government is trying to block the compensation orders imposed on individual companies, which is truly malicious."

Furthermore, they emphasized again, "Following Abe and Suga, the newly appointed Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is also insisting that Korea must come up with a solution regarding the forced labor issue," calling it "a shameless act that sprinkles salt on the wounds of the victims once again."

They also mentioned that the delay in compensation is partly the responsibility of the Korean government.

They appealed, "It is unfair enough to have been born in a powerless country and taken away, but our government has left the issue of victim recovery to individuals to resolve through lawsuits."

According to the group, there are 7.6 million victims of forced labor, of whom about 2 million were mobilized overseas. Among them, about 220,000 have been officially recognized as victims.

The problem is that the number of plaintiffs who have filed lawsuits against the Japanese government and companies is only around 1,000.

The group stressed, "As much time has passed, many parties have died, or even if alive, they are unable to actively come forward due to information vulnerability, difficulty in proving damage, and other reasons."

They added, "Receiving 99 yen from Japan's welfare pension is also the victim's burden, lawsuits are the victim's burden, and even finding hidden assets of Japanese companies operating domestically is all the victim's burden," and questioned, "Where is our government?"

At the press conference, grandmother Yang Geum-deok (94), who has been engaged in legal battles with Japan for over 30 years, also attended, writing "Apologize" on a placard herself and crying out, "If you are human, please at least say one word of apology."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.