'Japan may seize Korean firm's assets in retaliation of forced labor ruling'

Shigeki Takizaki, director general of the Japanese foreign ministry's Asian and Oceania Affairs Bureau, arrives at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul, Thursday, for a meeting with his counterpart. Yonhap

By Yi Whan-woo

The Japanese government is considering seizing the assets of Korean businesses in Japan if Seoul follows up on a 2018 Supreme Court ruling on wartime forced labor and seizes and sells Japanese companies' assets here, the Sankei Shimbun reported Friday.

The Tokyo-based newspaper reported that the government there is also considering raising tariffs on imported Korean goods.

Tokyo's move comes as the two countries are wrangling over the Korean Supreme Court's 2018 ruling that ordered Japan's Nippon Steel to pay 100 million won ($88,000) to each of four elderly plaintiffs for their forced labor and unpaid work during World War II.

Lawsuits from other victims followed, with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Sumitomo Metal being ordered by lower courts to pay compensation.

The companies refused to comply, based on Tokyo's view that reparation issues stemming from its 1910-45 colonial occupation of the peninsula were settled by a 1965 treaty that normalized bilateral relations.

The Japanese foreign ministry also failed to pass the documents containing the Korean court's asset-seizure ruling on to the companies.

The two countries have launched a series of tit-for-tat responses, including Japan's exports curbs on goods to Korea and entry restrictions on Koreans.

During a high-level meeting Thursday, Korea urged Japan to be more sincere in resolving the forced labor-related row swiftly and to remove its export curbs.

The meeting was led by Kim Jung-han, director general for Asia and Pacific Affairs at the foreign ministry and his Japanese counterpart, Shigeki Takizaki.

These were their first talks since Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga took office in September.

It was also their first in-person meeting since February, as the coronavirus pandemic has affected physical meetings.