Court: Japanese firm must pay war compensation

SEOUL — South Korea’s Supreme Court ordered a Japanese steel-maker Tuesday to compensate Korean men forced to toil in its factory for Japan’s World War II efforts, a landmark ruling that threatened to intensify friction between the United States’ two key allies in Asia.

The judges upheld a lowercourt ruling that Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal must pay about $88,700, to each of four South Korean men who said they were subject to forced labor for the company between 1941 and 1943. Korea was a Japanese colony from 1910 until Japan’s surrender in 1945.

The verdict could open the floodgates for other victims and their families to file class-action lawsuits against Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal and other Japanese companies accused of capitalizing on forced labor.

Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal called the court’s decision “deeply regrettable” and said it contradicted the 1965 agreement not to raise claims that “arose during wartime.”

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called the ruling “an impossible judgment in light of international laws.”

The ruling “overturns the legal basis of the friendly cooperative relationship between Japan and South Korea,” said Japanese foreign minister Taro Kono, calling the decision “extremely regrettable and absolutely unacceptable.”

“In case appropriate measures are not immediately taken, Japan will make a resolute response with all possible options in sight, including bringing it to the international court,” Kono added.

South Korea Prime Minister Lee Nak Yon said the government “respects” the ruling, promising efforts to “heal the pain of the victims as quickly and as much as possible.” But he also said South Korea preferred a “future-oriented” relationship with Japan.

His comments were echoed by Noh Kyu Duk, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry in Seoul.

“We are telling the Japanese side that both sides need to pull our wisdom together to prevent this verdict from adversely affecting bilateral relations,” Noh said.

Washington has repeatedly urged Japan and South Korea to overcome their historical differences so they can better work together with the U.S. to end the North Korean nuclear threat and counter China’s growing influence in the region.