A South Korean court announced Wednesday it had decided to freeze local assets of a Japanese company involved in disputes over wartime compensation for Korean employees, an escalation in a diplomatic tussle between the East Asian neighbors.
Japan was quick to call the asset seizure “extremely regrettable” and said Tokyo would insist on talks with Seoul on the matter.
In a landmark ruling in October, South Korea’s highest court ordered Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp to pay 4 plaintiffs who were forced to work for the corporate when Japan colonized the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945, 100 million won ($89,000) each.
But the corporate refused to comply with the ruling, favoring Japan’s long-held position that every one colonial-era compensation issues were settled in a 1965 treaty that restored diplomatic relations between the 2 governments. Japanese officials have said they might take the case to the International Court of Justice.
On Wednesday, the Daegu branch of the District Court within the southeastern city of Pohang said it had approved a request by lawyers to seize Korean assets held by a Japanese company over its refusal to pay compensation to former employees.
The Japanese company holds 2.34 million shares, or about $9.7 million, in its Pohang three way partnership with South Korean steelmaker Posco.
In Tokyo, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Japan was “seriously concerned in regards to the developments.” Suga was expected to carry a gathering of top officials on Wednesday to debate the right way to respond.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, citing an unidentified official on the Pohang District Court office, reported that of the Japanese company’s 2.34 million shares, only 81,075 shares were frozen. Yonhap said the freeze would only take effect after the related court document was delivered to the three way partnership.
The asset freeze could further cool diplomatic relations between South Korea and Japan, that are key U.S. allies within the region. The October ruling was the primary of its kind, and in November, South Korea’s Supreme Court ordered a second Japanese company, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, to pay compensation to 10 former Korean employees, drawing sharp criticism from Japan.
Mitsubishi Heavy ordered to pay compensation to victims of forced labor in the course of the war
Mitsubishi Heavy ordered to pay compensation to victims of forced labor in the course of the war
When South Korea and Japan signed the 1965 treaty, South Korea received greater than $800 million in economic aid and loans from Japan and used the cash to rebuild the infrastructure and economy devastated by the Korean War in 1950–1953. In its October and November rulings, South Korea’s Supreme Court said the 1965 treaty couldn’t prevent residents from looking for compensation for forced labor because using such employees by Japanese firms was an illegal act against humanity linked to colonial rule in Tokyo and the aggressive war it waged. .
This article appeared within the print edition of the South China Morning Post as: Japanese assets frozen as a consequence of wartime work
