1 surviving forced labor victim voices intent to accept govt. compensation plan: source

One of the surviving South Korean victims of Japan's wartime forced labor has expressed an intent to accept the Seoul government's third-party reimbursement plan, an informed source said Sunday.

The person, whose identity was withheld, recently reversed an earlier objection to the plan that the government announced in March to compensate victims through a government-affiliated foundation without contributions from Japanese firms, according to the source.

The victim is among the three surviving ones who won compensation suits against Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. and Nippon Steel Corp. at the Supreme Court in 2018.

Earlier in the day, Japan's Kyodo News and Tokyo Shimbun also reported that one victim has shown an intention to receive compensation from the Foundation for Victims of Forced Mobilization under the interior ministry.

It remains unknown what has caused the victim to accede to the compensation plan.

The foundation has just received the victim's intention and no compensation procedures have begun yet, the source said. Should the foundation decide on the payment, it would mark the first such case involving a surviving victim.

Some victims and bereaved families have rejected the third-party compensation scheme and called for sincere apologies from the Japanese government and companies.

Seoul's initiative to resolve the thorny issue of forced labor during Japan's 1910-45 colonization of the Korean Peninsula has paved the way for a thaw between South Korea and Japan.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is set to arrive in Seoul later in the day on a trip to reciprocate the visit to Tokyo in March by President Yoon Suk Yeol and resume the leader-level "shuttle diplomacy" after a 12-year hiatus.

At their summit on the day, the two sides are expected to discuss joint efforts to counter growing North Korean nuclear and missile threats, economic security and other regional and global issues. (Yonhap)