Korean forced laborer appeals for justice in Japan ′강제노역′ 할머니， 일본 국회 앞 호소...＆q

An elderly Korean lady who was forced into labor in the mid－1940s during Japan′s colonial rule of Korea... is calling on the Japanese government to apologize for the country′s past atrocities. Her renewed efforts follow the UNESCO World Heritage Committee′s acknowledgment this week of Japan′s past use of Korean slave laborers. Sohn Jung－in reports. Yang Geum－duk，... who was forced into hard labor during Japan′s colonial rule of Korea，... visited Japan′s National Diet Building in Tokyo on Wednesday. The purpose of her visit was to urge Japan to apologize and compensate Koreans who were forced to toil against their will in the early to mid－20th century. The 87－year－old was forced to work for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of Japan in the mid－1940s for one and a half years. She was only 13 years old at the time. Noting that last month a Korean High Court ruled in favor of the victim－plaintiffs， and ordered the Japanese company to pay each one of them over 100－thousand U.S. dollars，.... Yang once again urged the Japanese court to be conscientious in making its judgment. ″It′s not too late. They should act rightly and apologize and compensate the victims as soon as possible.″ In 1999， the Korean victims filed a lawsuit against Mitsubishi seeking compensation for the psychological distress they suffered， but the suit was ultimately dismissed by the Supreme Court of Japan. Japanese civil activists joined Yang during Wednesday′s meeting. They have been by her side supporting and providing assistance for 16 years. ″We are running out of time. We need to do our best to resolve this issue as quickly as possible.″ The Japanese court acknowledges forced mobilization and labor， but at the same time maintains that all issues regarding its colonial rule， including sex slavery and monetary reparations， were covered by a 1965 agreement that normalized relations between Korean and Japan. Sohn Jung－in， Arirang News.