SEOUL, POSCO Holdings Inc., the country's leading steelmaker, said Monday that it would "actively" consider supporting a plan floated by the South Korean government to compensate the victims of forced labor under Japan's 1910-1945 occupation.
Earlier in the day, the Seoul government proposed compensating more than a dozen victims of Japan's wartime forced labor through a Seoul-backed public foundation, instead of direct payment from responsible Japanese firms.
Under the scheme, the Foundation for Victims of Forced Mobilization, affiliated with the interior ministry, will collect "voluntary" donations from the private sector.
The government stressed that the donation will be voluntary, but that South Korean companies that benefited from a 1965 bilateral treaty with Japan, such as steelmaker POSCO, are expected to drum up support for the scheme.
Along with POSCO Holdings, state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO), tobacco maker KT&G and 13 Korean companies are deemed to have benefited from the treaty.
In 2012, POSCO promised to donate 10 billion won (US$7 million) to the foundation. So far, the steelmaker has chipped in 6 billion won.
Source: Yonhap News Agency