In 1965, Japan and South Korea normalized their diplomatic relations and Japan paid South Korea 300 million dollars with no strings attached in accordance with the Agreement Concerning the Settlement of Problems in Regard to Property and Claims and Economic Cooperation. With this payment, both countries confirmed that all post-war claims, including for Koreans who participated in wartime mobilization, had been settled “completely and finally.” Some refer to the wartime of mobilization of people based on the laws of the time as an inhumane form of “slave labor.” This paper sheds light on the reality of the wartime mobilization of Korean workers by analyzing official statistics and written records, showing that there are layers of untruth to descriptions of young men forcibly being taken from peaceful farm villages to work as slaves
