ANKARA (AA) - A South Korean court on Monday dismissed a lawsuit filed by wartime victims who sought compensation from 16 Japanese firms, according to local media.
In its ruling on the case of 85 victims of wartime forced labor in Japan and their families during World War II, the Seoul Central District Court said that South Korean wartime forced laborers cannot claim individual legal rights to damages from Japan, Yonhap News Agency reported.
Citing the 1965 agreement between Seoul and Tokyo on resolving colonial-era issues, the court was reported as saying: "It cannot be said that individual claims are terminated or waived due to the Korea-Japan treaty. But it was decided that the individual rights cannot be exercised through lawsuits."
Japan has claimed that all colonial-era issues, including individual compensation, were settled with the 1965 treaty.
The court said forced labor victims' individual compensation rights are covered by the Korea-Japan treaty considering treaty-related documents, the circumstances leading to the treaty, purported intentions of the concerned parties, and their follow-up measures, according to the report.
"An acceptance of the plaintiffs' claim, in this case, may result in a violation of international law, including Article 27 of the Vienna Convention," the court said in its ruling.
Lawyers for the victims criticized the ruling and called it "very unfair" and vowed to appeal.
"Today's ruling runs directly counter to a previous Supreme Court ruling on a similar case and is very unfair," Yonhap quoted Kang Gil, a lawyer, as saying.
On April 21, a South Korean court also dismissed a lawsuit filed by wartime victims against the Japanese government.
Earlier in January, the same court ruled in favor of victims in another case and ordered Tokyo to give 100 million won ($91,300) each to 12 women who were abducted and kept in Japanese brothels during World War II. The ruling was rejected by Japan.
Diplomatic relations between the two countries remained at an all-time low over the past year after the court ordered Japanese firms to compensate victims of forced labor during Japan's colonial rule.
*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid