AP, SEOULColonial-era Korean forced laborers yesterday launched a legal step to get court approval for the sale of local assets of their former Japanese employer Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which has refused to compensate the former workers. South Korea’s Supreme Court last year ordered two Japanese firms, including Mitsubishi, to pay compensation to some aging Korean plaintiffs who were forced to work for them when the Korean Peninsula was under Tokyo’s 1910-1945 colonial rule. The Japanese firms have refused to abide by the rulings, siding with their government’s position that all compensation issues were settled when Japan and South Korea established diplomatic ties in 1965. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters later yesterday that Tokyo is concerned about the development. “The movement of cashing assets of Japanese companies is very concerning,” Suga said.

Source: Taipei Times July 23, 2019 16:06 UTC