South Korea's Foreign Minister Park Jin will meet with surviving plaintiffs in Japanese wartime labor cases on Friday, his ministry said Thursday, as Seoul is struggling to prevent the issue from further worsening bilateral relations.
The meeting will come as the South Korean Supreme Court is expected to decide soon if it finalizes a court order to liquidate assets seized from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., one of two Japanese firms sued over alleged forced labor during Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.
Park will "listen to the voices of wartime labor victims directly," said Choi Young Sam, the ministry's spokesman, in his regular briefing, adding that the government has a strong willingness to solve the issue as soon as possible in a sincere manner.
Park is scheduled to meet two South Korean plaintiffs in the southwestern city of Gwangju on Friday afternoon, according to the ministry.
A civic group supporting such victims held a press conference in Gwangju earlier in the day, saying, "We won't accept any gesture lacking sincerity made only to overcome the situation temporarily."
The top court in 2018 determined that groups of South Koreans were forced to work in Japan during the colonial rule, ordering Mitsubishi Heavy and Nippon Steel Corp. to pay damages.
But the companies did not comply with the compensation order as Japan maintains all claims stemming from its colonial rule were settled "completely and finally" under a bilateral agreement signed in 1965.
The plaintiffs then had part of the companies' assets in South Korea seized through courts with an eye to selling them off.
The government of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has been seeking an alternative solution to selling off the assets.
Japan has asked South Korea to take remedial measures, warning of serious consequences should any sale happen. But no progress was made during the administration of Yoon's predecessor Moon Jae In.
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