December 19, 2018, Tokyo, Japan – Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono speaks during a news conference at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on Wednesday, December 19, 2018. (Photo by Natsuki Sakai/AFLO)
January 4, 2019
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono said on Friday he told his South Korean counterpart he wants Seoul to make a firm response in line with international law on South Korea’s claim against a Japanese company over wartime forced labor.
Kono spoke with South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha by phone on Friday.
South Korean plaintiffs in a World War Two forced labor case against Japan’s Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Corp have applied to seize some of Nippon Steel’s Korean assets, their lawyers said on Wednesday.
Japan has said all wartime reparations were dealt with in a 1965 treaty that normalized ties between the two neighbours.
(Reporting by Elaine Lies and Billy Mallard; Editing by Nick Macfie)
