Photo/Illutration South Korean National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang talks about his plans to submit a bill aimed at resolving wartime labor issues with Japan. Photo was taken in Seoul on Oct. 30. (Hajimu Takeda)

South Korea's National Assembly speaker on Dec. 12 put the final touches on planned legislation intended to heal a deep rift with Japan over the issue of compensation for wartime laborers.

The ruling and opposition parties have both agreed on amendments to the bill that would establish a “foundation for memories, reconciliation and the future” and is aimed at putting bilateral relations on a firmer footing.

The nuts and bolts of the envisaged steps drawn up by Moon Hee-sang may come up for discussion during a Japan-South Korea bilateral summit meeting scheduled for later this month.

Under Moon's initiative, the South Korean government would shoulder the operating costs of the foundation while securing funding by soliciting “voluntary donations” from the public and corporations in both countries.

The prospects of this coming to fruition are anybody's guess.

Those eligible for compensation will include plaintiffs who won lawsuits against Japanese companies at the South Korean Supreme Court last year, as well as people whose cases are pending and those who plan to file a lawsuit in the future.

A public backlash erupted after South Korean news media reported the gist of the package in November because it did not include an apology from Japan.

The Japanese government has balked at the Supreme Court rulings in Seoul, arguing that all wartime compensation issues were settled under a 1965 agreement that restored diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Tokyo has repeatedly pressed Seoul “not to force Japanese companies to bear the burden.”

Moon, mindful of domestic sentiment on the contentious wartime issue, was at pains to point out that Keizo Obuchi, Japan's prime minister in 1998, apologized for Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

Moon specified that in a section explaining his rationale for introducing the bill.

Moon then emphasized that the bill was based on the premise that the current administration headed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had inherited that way of thinking and that any direct funding from Japan would be regarded as a “voluntary donation,” not reparations for the plaintiffs who won the case.

His skillful wording was aimed at taking the sting out of the issue by allowing the Japanese government’s policy position to remain unchanged.

South Korea has made clear it hopes the Japanese companies that lost the case will donate funds to the foundation, but the bill does not address that.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has taken the position that the separation of the three branches of government does not allow the executive branch to interfere with a judicial ruling.

The National Assembly speaker has met several times behind the scenes with top officials of the Moon administration in the hope of getting its blessing for the initiative.

The bill is expected to be submitted to the National Assembly as early as mid-December and will likely be approved after discussion.

But if the public fiercely opposes the bill, it is possible that President Moon will exercise his power of veto.

Japanese officials in the meantime have warily observed the maneuverings as they try to weigh whether the bill would be acceptable for Japan.

Takeo Kawamura, a former chief Cabinet secretary and secretary-general of the Japan-South Korea parliamentary association, suggested in a lecture he gave in Tokyo on Dec. 11 that the Abe administration might embrace the proposal.

He said Takaya Imai, an aide close to Abe, “has wanted to do something about the relationship between Japan and South Korea and has an interest in (National Assembly Speaker) Moon’s proposals.”

Kawamura said, “Imai thinks that if (the bill) works well, (the bilateral relationship) will move forward.”

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, on the other hand, offered a cautious comment at a news conference on Dec. 12: “The Japanese government refrains from commenting on discussions and moves at another country’s legislature.”

(This article was written by Hajimu Takeda, correspondent, Ryutaro Abe and Tatsuro Kawai.)