China News Service, June 7th, a comprehensive report. On the 7th local time, the 34th Civil Collegiate Chamber of the Central Seoul District Court in South Korea rejected 85 forced laborers and their survivors during World War II against Japanese companies for compensation, ruling that the plaintiff did not The authority to prosecute the Japanese companies involved.

  According to Korean media reports, on May 28, 2021, 85 WWII forced laborers and their survivors jointly sued 16 Japanese companies including Nippon Steel, Nissan Chemical and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

This is the largest claim in a lawsuit filed by forced labor during World War II.

  On June 7, South Korea’s Central Seoul District Court ruled not to accept the case, meaning that the litigation requirements were insufficient and the case would not be heard.

The court stated that it cannot be said that the individual’s right to claim was eliminated or waived due to the “Korea-Japan Claims Agreement”, but the right to claim cannot be exercised by way of litigation. Therefore, it determined that the claim did not meet the conditions of the lawsuit and was not accepted.

  The lawyer appointed by the plaintiff stated to the media after the verdict was released that the verdict was “completely opposite and very unreasonable” from the previous South Korean Supreme Court’s verdict. He believed that the court made this decision because the case involved sensitive issues and indicated that it would appeal immediately.

  According to previous reports, in October 2018, the Supreme Court of South Korea (the Supreme Court) sentenced Japan’s Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation to compensate the four South Korean victims of forced labor during World War II 100 million won each, and determined that South Korea and Japan resumed normal diplomatic relations in 1965. The agreement signed at the time of transformation does not hinder the right of individual claims.

This move triggered a strong reaction from the Japanese government. The conflict between South Korea and Japan over the issue of forced labor continued to ferment, leading to increased tensions in the relations between the two countries.