ROK's foundation for compensation fatally flawed

Despite domestic opposition, Republic of Korea President Yoon Suk-yeol has pushed for setting up a government-backed foundation to compensate labor victims from the ROK who were exploited during World War II in an attempt to bypass the deadlock between Japan and the ROK over their colonial history and wartime culpability.

Japan and the United States played a behind-the-scenes role in this move. Shortly afterward, Yoon visited Japan, leading to a rapid warming of bilateral relations and the announcement of "significant progress" on a series of sensitive issues. However, on May 27, the head of the foundation said that the foundation lacks about 12 billion Korean won ($8.71 million) required for compensation and called for donations from Japanese companies.

The shortfall stems from a technical flaw in the "foundation mode". First, the mode does not hold the responsible Japanese companies and the Japanese government accountable. Once the mandatory legal obligation to pay is stripped away, it becomes difficult to make enterprises "voluntarily donate". Especially, given that the Japanese government and responsible companies are unwilling to take responsibility for the historical crimes.