Colonial-era Korean laborers have formally registered their request with a South Korean court to get its approval for the sale of local assets of their former Japanese employer.
A South Korean support group says lawyers for the ex-laborers sent such a request Tuesday because Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries refused to comply with a court order to compensate them for forced labor during the 1910-45 Japanese colonization.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga says "the movement of cashing assets of Japanese companies is very concerning."
A South Korean protester uses scissors to cut an image of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during a rally denouncing the Japanese government's decision on their exports to South Korea in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, July 23, 2019. The signs read "Punish economic aggression." (AP PhotoAhn Young-joon)
South Korea and Japan are currently engaged in escalating disputes over Japan's decision to tighten the approval process for the export of some high-tech materials.