TOKYO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th August, 2020) The Japanese government said that South Korea's looming seizure of a steel firm's assets over a wartime labor lawsuit is a breach of international law that will impact bilateral relations.
A South Korean Supreme Court ruling to seize and sell off the assets of Japan's Nippon Steel in the country goes into effect Tuesday. The 2018 ruling seeks to compensate South Koreans who claim they were victims of forced labor for the company during World War Two.
"The legal procedure related to the Supreme Court ruling is clearly a breach of international law. The order to seize the firm's assets will have serious consequences on bilateral relations. We must avoid such a situation," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, the government's top spokesman, said on Tuesday, as broadcast by NHK.
As of the Tuesday deadline, the Supreme Court deemed its ruling to compensate four South Korean nationals $80,000 each for forced labor in steel mills in the 1940's unfulfilled, NHK reported.
The court is now expected to seize all the company's assets in South Korea and begin selling them off to finance the reimbursement.
Japan has consistently voiced its protestations over the decision, claiming that all suits were settled when the two countries normalized relations in 1965.
The cases surrounding the use of forced labor and so-called comfort women during Japan's 20th Century colonial expansions have become a point of contention in relation between the East Asian neighbors.
It is believed that a Japanese embargo on sale of rare elements to South Korea, key for microchip and touch screen production, was prompted by the ongoing court cases over Japan's conduct during the war.
