Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung on Wednesday criticized the government of President Yoon Suk Yeol for trying to mend relations with Japan, saying trust-building is impossible unless Japan takes responsibility and offers legal compensation for its 1910-45 colonial rule of Korea.

Lee, chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party, made the remark in a Facebook post marking the anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement, a 1919 nationwide uprising against the Japanese colonial rule.

"The Yoon Suk Yeol government is oblivious of the March 1 Independence Movement spirit and is damaging it," Lee said. "No one would oppose building future-oriented Korea-Japan relations. Without historical responsibility and legitimate legal compensation, however, it is impossible to build trust."

The Yoon administration has been seeking a solution to the issue of wartime forced labor that has frayed relations with Japan for years after South Korea's Supreme Court ordered Japanese companies in 2018 to pay compensation to Korean forced labor victims.

Japan retaliated by imposing export curbs against South Korea the following year, claiming that all reparation issues stemming from its 1910-45 colonial occupation of the Korean Peninsula were settled under a 1965 treaty that normalized relations between the two countries.

The Yoon administration has come up with a proposal that calls for using a public foundation based in South Korea to pay the compensation for Korean forced labor victims who won lawsuits against Japanese companies.

Lee accused the government of "treating forced labor victims as if they are a stumbling block to the improvement of relations," vowing that his main opposition party will do all it can do to prevent the Yoon administration if it attempts to "betray" national interests.

Source: Yonhap News Agency