Yoon Mi-hyang: "A Humiliating Solution for the Perpetrators... The Worst Diplomatic Disaster"

YTN 'News King Park Ji-hoon' Interview
"Due to Political and Military Demands for Korea-US-Japan Trilateral Cooperation"

Independent lawmaker Yoon Mee-hyang, formerly of the Democratic Party of Korea, strongly criticized the South Korean government's solution to the issue of Japan's forced labor, saying it was "not a magnanimous decision but rather a disregard for the victims, the people, and a mere consideration of the perpetrator's stance."

On the 7th, Yoon said on YTN's 'News King Park Ji-hoon' program, "Korea, the victim, merely bowed its head in a surrender declaration to Japan, the perpetrator."

In 2018, the Supreme Court ruled that Japanese companies must pay damages and delayed interest to 15 victims of forced labor. Only three of them are still alive. Yoon said, "All three are currently opposed," adding, "What they want is an apology and a promise of compensation from the Japanese government, and for that promise to be fulfilled."

Independent lawmaker Yoon Mi-hyang is delivering the opening remarks at the "National Assembly Forum for the Welfare Improvement of Retired Racehorses" held on the 13th at the National Assembly Members' Office Building in Yeouido, Seoul. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

She said she heard this from the victims when she visited them, "The victims say, 'We do not want money from Korean companies. I want compensation from Japanese companies,' they demand."

When announcing the solution, the government mentioned that President Yoon Suk-yeol was continuing the legacy of the 'Kim Dae-jung?Obuchi Joint Declaration.' Regarding this, Yoon said, "The Japanese government has never once apologized for forced mobilization, so they should apologize for not having done so until now," adding, "The Japanese government has even attacked victims who testified about forced labor, accusing them of 'distorting history.'"

Yoon emphasized that there was political and military pressure from the United States behind the government's announcement. She pointed out, "Right after the announcement, the U.S. Secretary of State issued a welcoming message as if waiting for it, and unusually, President Biden himself released a welcoming message," adding, "Because the historical issues between South Korea and Japan have continuously been an obstacle to the U.S.'s military policies toward China and Russia, the political and military pressure to strengthen the U.S. strategy through the use of these two countries was significant."

She also said that Japanese Prime Minister Kishida's invitation to President Yoon to the Group of Seven (G7) summit was in the same context. She said, "Since the beginning of his administration, the Yoon government has been obsessed with a one-sided improvement of Korea-Japan relations. I think President Yoon wanted to at least show his face at the G7 summit as a political achievement," adding, "In order to strengthen the U.S.-South Korea-Japan trilateral cooperation, there was a strong demand to resolve this quickly, but the government ignored the people and the victims of forced labor and had to come up with a quick solution."

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