Seoul court rejects slave labor claim against Japanese firms

A South Korean court has rejected a claim by dozens of wartime Korean factory workers and their relatives who sought compensation from Japanese companies for their slave labor before the end of World War II

SEOUL, South Korea -- A South Korean court on Monday rejected a claim by dozens of wartime Korean factory workers and their relatives who sought compensation from 16 Japanese companies for their slave labor during Japan’s colonial occupation of Korea. The decision by the Seoul Central District Court appeared to run against landmark Supreme Court rulings in 2018 that ordered Nippon Steel and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to compensate Korean forced laborers. It largely aligns with the position maintained by the Japanese government, which insists all wartimes compensation issues were settled under a 1965 treaty normalizing relations between the two nations. A total of 85 plaintiffs had sought a combined 8.6 billion won ($7.7 million) in damages against 16 Japanese companies, including Nippon Steel, Nissan Chemical and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.