South Korea's Supreme Court on Thursday upheld decisions by lower courts ordering Japanese companies Hitachi Zosen Corp. and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. to pay damages to South Koreans for wartime labor.
The top court last week ordered Mitsubishi Heavy and Japan's Nippon Steel Corp. to compensate victims of forced labor during Japan's colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.
Of the three rulings issued Thursday, the one against Hitachi Zosen was the first by the top court for a wartime labor lawsuit against the engineering corporation.
The rulings were issued amid an improvement in South Korea-Japan relations since Seoul in March announced a plan to resolve the wartime labor issue.
Thursday's rulings upheld a decision by the Seoul High Court in January 2019 ordering Hitachi Zosen to pay damages to former workers, and decisions by the same court in June 2019 and the Gwangju High Court in December 2018 that ordered Mitsubishi Heavy to compensate former workers.
Bilateral ties deteriorated after the top court in October and November 2018 upheld orders in separate judgments against Nippon Steel, then named Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp., and Mitsubishi Heavy requiring they pay damages for forced labor during Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule.
Japan has said all issues stemming from its colonization of the Korean Peninsula were settled "completely and finally" under a 1965 bilateral agreement.
In the Thursday rulings, the top court said the right of forced labor victims to seek damages is not subject to the application of the bilateral agreement, ordering Hitachi Zosen and Mitsubishi Heavy to pay between 50 million won ($38,780) and 150 million won each to former workers.
Rejecting the two firms' claims that the statute of limitations for compensation claims has expired, the top court said plaintiffs of forced labor cases have been able to seek compensation from Japanese firms since the 2018 top court rulings.
In a press conference following the rulings, Lim Jae Sung, a lawyer for the Mitsubishi Heavy in Seoul, said the two firms will have to quickly decide how they will implement the court orders.
Similar rulings are likely to continue to be made by the top court.
An 80-year-old plaintiff of the Mitsubishi Heavy case in Gwangju, a relative of a female former worker who has died, said, "I want Mitsubishi (Heavy) to pay the damages soon and make an apology."
Japan's Foreign Ministry said in a press release that the latest rulings are "extremely regrettable and totally unacceptable" and that Tokyo has lodged a protest with Seoul.
Hitachi Zosen said the ruling against the firm is "extremely regrettable." Mitsubishi Heavy said it believes issues regarding claim rights between Japan and South Korea and their peoples have been settled under the 1965 bilateral agreement.
Seoul said in March this year that plaintiffs who have won lawsuits over forced labor during colonial rule would receive compensation from a South Korean government-backed foundation rather than the sued firms.
Those in ongoing cases would also qualify for the compensation if they win damages, the South Korean government said.
Several surviving victims and the bereaved families, who won against Nippon Steel and Mitsubishi Heavy at the top court in 2018, have agreed to accept the money from the foundation, while some others have refused to do so.
Related coverage:
South Korea's top court upholds wartime labor damages order for Japan firms
"Comfort women" compensation ruling finalized: South Korean ministry
South Korea court overturns Japan's immunity from "comfort women" suit
