Yeo Hong-ik-pyo of the Opposition: "Third-Party Payment? Subject to Government Investigation if Administration Changes"

"Japan intends to address Fukushima issue at summit"
Rep. Hong Ik-pyo, KBS radio interview

Hong Ik-pyo, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated on the 15th, "There are clearly legal issues remaining with third-party compensation, but they are pushing it through without resolving them," and added, "If the administration changes or the situation changes in a few years, all those involved could face judicial action or become subjects of a national investigation."

On the same day, Hong appeared on KBS Radio's 'Choi Kyung-young's Strong Current Affairs' and said, "No matter how much it is the president's choice or a diplomatic issue, it cannot go beyond the law and principles. This is a complete denial of the Supreme Court ruling." He continued, "Including Foreign Minister Park Jin, officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Presidential Office officials, I don't understand why they are choosing this method," emphasizing, "It is all abuse of power and illegal."

Hong stated, "Because diplomacy is a national issue, I have a basic stance that it should always be supported regardless of party lines," but he also evaluated, "The recent approach of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration to resolving Korea-Japan relations has somewhat crossed the line."

Hong Ik-pyo, Member of the Democratic Party of Korea./Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

Regarding the ruling party's claim that the government's 'third-party compensation plan' is the same as the proposal by former National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang, Hong explained, "Moon Hee-sang's plan fundamentally differs because it included wartime companies," and added, "Moon's plan involved four parties?the wartime companies among Korea-Japan companies, Korean companies that benefited from the Japan-Korea Claims Settlement Fund, and the governments of both Korea and Japan?jointly creating this fund."

He continued, "If something unfavorable arises, they just say the ruling party did it, evading clear explanations about the legal issues, which is very inappropriate," and criticized, "It completely baffled former Speaker Moon Hee-sang, who is still very much active."

He also viewed that there has been no change in Japan's attitude at all. Hong said, "They are moving to completely deny the forced mobilization itself," and claimed, "Japan is trying to use this opportunity to address issues such as the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant and lifting regulations on Fukushima agricultural products."

Hong raised his voice, asking, "What do we actually have?" and said, "Considering the sentiment of our people in this matter, shouldn't there be agreements on stopping visits to Yasukuni Shrine, relinquishing claims to Dokdo, and revising Japan's defense white paper to some extent?"

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