South Korean court orders Japanese firms to compensate more wartime Korean workers for forced labor

By HYUNG-JIN KIM
Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s top court has ordered two Japanese companies to financially compensate more of their wartime Korean workers for forced labor. The Supreme Court ruled that Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Nippon Steel Corp. must give compensation to a total of 11 workers who were forced to work for the companies during Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. The ruling is in line with the court’s contentious 2018 verdicts that caused a huge setback in relations between the two countries. Observers say Thursday’s ruling won’t likely hurt bilateral ties much because Seoul and Tokyo have been pushing hard to bolster their partnerships in the face of shared challenges.