Professors of Korea University (KU) announced a public statement urging the national government to withdraw the "third-party repayment" plan to compensate for forced labor or mobilization under Japan’s colonial rule. Eighty-five professors signed their names to the statement, and as of March 31, thirty additional professors from STEM departments have officially added their names to demonstrate support. In their statement, professors harshly criticized the government’s actions, describing the plan as “a measure that discards basic human rights of the victims of forced mobilization,” as well as an act that is “ahistorical” and “anti-democratic.”

South Korea and Japan negotiated this deal during a joint summit last week. The “third-party repayment” brew controversy as it states that Korean companies will financially compensate instead of Japanese entities, and that it violates the 2018 Supreme Court ruling that finalized that Japanese companies are obliged to compensate individuals for damages from forced labor. Japan’s colonization of Korea during 1910-1945 is a highly sensitive topic for many Koreans, and issues of Japanese compensation or formal apology for its crimes during the time have long been contentious and tangled in multiple disagreements.  

The statement was attached as a campus wall poster near the West Gate. Many KU students have expressed their support, attaching yellow sticky notes with handwritten messages such as “I express my support,” and “I support you.”