Nippon Steel protest against South Korean asset seizure order

Nippon Steel Corp said that it will file an immediate appeal against an order by a South Korean district court to seize assets held by the Japanese company in South Korea. Nippon Steel said it understands that the issue of former South Korean wartime laborers has been completely and finally resolved under a 1965 bilateral pact on property and claims, which is an official agreement between Japan and South Korea and that it will handle the matter appropriately, based on diplomatic negotiations between Tokyo and Seoul.
The statement came after the service by publication regarding documents on the asset seizure order took effect the same day. The district court order was issued after South Korea’s Supreme Court ordered Nippon Steel in 2018 to pay compensation to South Koreans requisitioned to work for the company during World War II.