Grandmother Yang Geum-deok accepted third-party reimbursement for forced labor...Receipt of reparations

It has been confirmed that Yang Geum-deok, one of the victims of forced conscription of the Japanese colonial era, accepted the method of compensation for damages through a third-party repayment method.

The Japan Compulsory Mobilization Victims Support Foundation said today that it paid Yang Geum-deok, a grandmother, compensation and delayed interest in accordance with the Supreme Court's ruling in favor of compensation for damages caused by conscription.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Yang was the 12th to receive the ruling among the 15 people who won the Supreme Court's final ruling.

Among the three people who are still refusing to solve the third-party reimbursement solution, Lee Chun-sik, who is 104 years old, is the only surviving victim.

In this regard, the Japanese Citizens' Association for Compulsory Mobilization, a support group for victims of conscription, said in a statement, "I don't know if the decision was made by the will of grandmother Yang, who is currently hospitalized in a nursing hospital, and we are currently figuring out the exact circumstances."

The Supreme Court ruled in October 2018 that Japanese companies, including Japan Steel and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, were liable for damages, but the defendant's companies refused to accept it, leading to worsening relations between Korea and Japan.

In March last year, the Korean government announced a third-party repayment method in which compensation to be paid by Japanese companies is paid instead with money raised by the foundation.