외교부 “日, ‘강제징용 배상판결’ 양자협의 요청…면밀히 검토할 것”
Tensions continue to rise between Seoul and Tokyo over the South Korean Supreme Court's forced labor ruling last year.
As the Japanese firm did not respond to the court's orders to compensate the victims, another court approved a petition to seize some of the company's Korea-based assets.
In response, Tokyo has officially requested Seoul resolve the problem through talks.
Lee Ji-won has the latest.
Japan has officially requested talks with South Korea under the 1965 bilateral agreement, regarding a Seoul court's ruling last year on compensation for wartime forced labor.
"We have received a request for bilateral talks from Japan. We will closely review the request."
Spokesperson Noh said nothing has been decided on how the talks will be held,... and reiterated Seoul's stance on respecting judicial independence, and how it is working with related ministries and experts to come up with an official response.
This comes after South Korea's Daegu District Court... officially froze local assets of Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Corporation on Wednesday upon the plaintiffs' request.
Last October, Seoul's Supreme Court ordered that the Japanese firm compensate four South Korean victims about 87-thousand U.S. dollars each for their unpaid forced labor at the company during World War II.
But with the Japanese steelmaker refusing to respond to the court's order, a notice was sent out to freeze 81-thousand of the firm's shares in a joint-venture with a South Korean firm. The shares are worth around 357-thousand dollars.
Japan has been strongly protesting the court's results, arguing that the issue was settled through the 1965 bilateral agreement that normalized ties between the two countries.
With both sides standing firm, eyes are now on whether Seoul will accept the talks, which would be the first such talks under the treaty.
A senior South Korean official at the foreign ministry told reporters Thursday that by the ministry's "close review" of Japan's request,... it could mean that Seoul may re-request the talks to Japan,... but add other controversial issues to the agenda.
This could include talks over Japan's wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women, which Seoul requested in 2011, but was rejected by Tokyo.
Meanwhile, in case negotiations don't work out,... Japan is reportedly preparing to take the matter to the International Court of Justice.
According to Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency, Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper, citing a Japanese foreign affairs official, said Tokyo has already chosen its lawyers and is getting ready for the international trial.
The 1965 treaty also calls for an arbitration committee that involves a third country to resolve the issue,... but this too will have to be accepted by the other side, in this case, Seoul.
The official said Japan will wait for Seoul's official response.
Lee Ji-won, Arirang News.
