COURT REQUEST

[Anchor Lead]

Victims of Japan's wartime forced labor have filed a request for the court to order the disposal of assets held by Japanese firms in Korea. They want the Japanese firms' domestic assets to be forcibly sold off to be distributed to the victims.

[Pkg]

Lawyers representing victims of Japan's colonial era forced labor have filed a court request asking for the sale of assets in Korea owned by Japanese firms who committed wartime crimes. The assets in question include some 970 million won worth of shares in PNR or POSCO-Nippon Steel RHF Joint Venture Company owned by Nippon Steel Corporation as well as shares in Daesung Nachi Hydraulics worth 760 million won that are owned by Nachi-Fujikoshi Corporation. The latest court request comes after the Supreme Court ruled last year that Japanese firms must compensate Korean victims of its wartime forced labor.

[Soundbite] KIM MYEONG-SOO(SUPREME COURT CHIEF JUSTICE (Oct. 2018)) : "The Tokyo government refuses to recognize the illegality of colonial occupation and the legal responsibility to provide for damages."

But the companies have not once even responded to the victims' negotiation requests. The defense team filed for a provisional seizure of the Japanese firms' assets held in Korea and eventually, the asset disposal request was filed on May first.

[Soundbite] KIM SE-EUN(LAWYER FOR FORCED LABOR VICTIMS) : "Victims are old and action can't be delayed any longer. We'll move ahead with the next steps through an asset disposal request."

As the Supreme Court has already issued a final ruling on damage compensation, pundits believe the asset sale request will likely be approved. But the actual selloff is expected to take at least 3 months. Meanwhile the Japanese government maintains a hard-line stance, saying the forced disposal of Japanese companys' assets is by all means unacceptable.