Can the U.S. and Japan Confront Forced Labor and Atomic Bombing?
David Palmer Summary: The Japanese Supreme Court’s fall 2007 ruling in favor of Korean hibakusha medical compensation rights represents an important, though only partial, victory. The decision denied these Korean atomic victims, who were forced laborers at Mitsubishi’s Hiroshima Shipyard, compensation for unpaid wages. Resolving outstanding forced labor cases, as well as fully recognizing, apologizing and compensating all hibakusha, requires a broader international solution of “mutual apology and mutual compensation” by both Japan and the United States. On November 1, 2007, the Japanese Supreme Court ruled that the Japanese government’s denial of health care benefits to Korean hibakusha who were employed as forced conscripts at Mitsubishi’s shipyard in Hiroshima was illegal. The decision, which upheld a 2005 High Court ruling for the plaintiffs, has historic significance and broad international implications.[1] These Koreans were not only hibakusha – atomic bomb survivors – they also w
