The Supreme Court of the Republic of Korea (ROK) on Wednesday upheld a ruling ordering a Japanese company to pay 80 million won (about $56,500) to the family of an ROK national forced into labor by Japan during World War II, Yonhap News Agency reported.

The family members of Min Moon-sik, a forced labor victim, filed a damages suit against Nippon Steel Corp. in April 2019. In February 2022, a lower court ruled against the plaintiffs, saying their right to seek damages had expired under the statute of limitations. However, in September 2024, an appeals court overturned the lower court's ruling and ordered the defendant to pay 80 million won in compensation.

The case marked the top court's latest ruling in favor of families of forced labor victims since its landmark 2018 ruling that found Japanese companies liable for damages to such victims.

During Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule, large numbers of Koreans were forcibly taken to Japan to work as laborers. For years, ROK forced labor victims and their family members have filed multiple lawsuits seeking compensation from Japan. However, the Japanese government and relevant companies have refused to pay, arguing that the issue of claims was "settled" under the 1965 bilateral treaty signed between the ROK and Japan.

In October 2018, the supreme court ordered Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Corp. to pay 100 million won each to four ROK nationals who were subjected to forced labor during World War II. The court found that the 1965 bilateral treaty between the ROK and Japan, signed when the two countries normalized diplomatic relations, did not prevent ROK forced labor victims from exercising their individual rights to seek damages.