Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which has been ignoring a court ruling to compensate for damages caused by forced labor during the Japanese colonial period, has been ordered by the court to sell its domestic assets for the first time.



Judge Kim Yong-chan, the 28th independent civil affairs judge of the Daejeon District Court, accepted the application for a special cash order for trademark and patent rights issued by Geum-deok Yang and Seong-ju Kim, who were victims of forced labor, against Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.



This is the first time that a Korean court has issued an order to sell the assets of a Japanese company in relation to the victims of forced labor.



This trial is a follow-up procedure following the dismissal of the first division of the Supreme Court on the 10th in the case of re-appeal of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' trademark and patent seizure order against the grandmothers.



The target of the sale is two trademarks and two patents for each grandmother, and the amount that can be secured from the sale is estimated to be about 29.7 million won each, including interest and delay damages.



After the court's order for sale is issued, it is expected that the following procedures will be carried out, such as appraisal and auction of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' trademark rights, payment of the sale price, and dividends.



In November 2018, the Supreme Court confirmed that Mitsubishi Heavy Industries should pay alimony to Korean victims and their bereaved families who were mobilized during the Japanese occupation and forced to work.



However, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries did not pay alimony even after the judgment was finalized, and accordingly, the court ordered a compulsory procedure to seize Mitsubishi Heavy's two trademarks and six patents in Korea.



Mitsubishi Heavy Industries filed an appeal earlier this year, dissatisfied with the court's decision to seize, but it was dismissed.