Government, "Expanded Opinion Gathering on Forced Labor"

Reviewing the Appropriate Timing for an Expanded Form at the Public-Private Council
Broadly Gathering Opinions from Various Domestic Sectors

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] On the 13th, the government announced that it will undertake an expanded form of opinion-gathering process beyond the existing public-private consultative council to seek solutions for forced labor compensation, stating that it will "consider an appropriate timing."

An official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said to reporters on the same day, "The previous four private consultative councils had limited participants," referring to the matter.

When asked whether Japanese companies would be included in this form of opinion-gathering, he explained, "The main purpose of the public-private consultative council was to gather primarily domestic opinions, including those from domestic victims, legal and support organizations," adding, "The expanded form will focus on more broadly collecting opinions from various domestic sectors."

The government has held a total of four public-private consultative councils so far to gather domestic opinions on solutions for forced labor compensation. Key issues such as the party responsible for implementing the forced labor compensation rulings, securing funding, and Japan's apology have been somewhat derived through these councils.

The public-private consultative councils were held privately with experts from the government, academia, legal circles, and the media, but now the government plans to listen to opinions in a more open manner.

Until now, discussions have centered on three lawsuits with confirmed compensation rulings by the Supreme Court, but in the expanded opinion-gathering forum, opinions on the scope of application for compensation solutions may be more broadly heard.

The government is reportedly reviewing specific forms and plans to arrange such communication opportunities by the end of this month or early next month.

Meanwhile, regarding questions about the Korea-Japan summit at the UN General Assembly, the official said that close communication has been ongoing between Korea and Japan and that "the Korea-Japan summit at the UN General Assembly has not yet been decided."

A senior official from the Presidential Office said at a briefing the previous day, in response to questions about the possibility of a Korea-Japan summit during the UN General Assembly, "We are currently promoting the meeting, whether it will be a bilateral summit or a brief meeting is not yet known."

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