South Korea warns Japan in a row over wartime forced labor

SEOUL (Reuters) – Japan should avoid aggravating historical tensions in a diplomatic row over South Koreans forced to work for Japanese firms during World War Two, South Korea's foreign ministry has warned.

South Korea's top court ruled that Japan's Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp.5401.T) must compensate South Koreans for their forced labor during the war, which Japan has denounced as "unthinkable."

The binding court verdict is straining relations between the neighbors and could affect bilateral efforts in North Korea's nuclear program, analysts say.

Japan and South Korea share a bitter history that includes Japan's 1910-45 colonization of the Korean peninsula and the use of comfort women, Japan's euphemism for girls and women, many of the Korean, forced to work in its wartime brothels.

Japan's Foreign Minister Taro Kono said in a Bloomberg interview on Sunday that it would be difficult for any country to do anything with the South Korean government.

Kono's remarks on the subject of add fuel to the controversy, South Korea's foreign ministry said late on Tuesday.

"South Korea is very concerned that Japan's leaders in positions of responsibility are disregarding the root cause of the issue … and continue to make comments that rouse our public's emotions," the ministry said in a statement.

"The Japanese government must be aware that excessive political emphasis on the present case will be of no help to the future-oriented relationship between South Korea and Japan," the ministry added.

The Supreme Court ruled that Nippon Steel will pay 100 million won ($ 87,700) to compensate for unpaid wages, saying that their rights to compensation were not terminated by a 1965 treaty.

Japan says the issue has been resolved "completely and finally" by the 1965 agreement.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Wednesday South Korea was in violation of international law after the Supreme Court issued its verdict, and should take steps to rectify the situation immediately.

"We are watching to see what concrete steps the South Korean government will take," Suga said.

A senior official in South Korea 's presidential office.

"There has been a ruling by the judiciary that differs from the previous government stance, so we have to arrange our stance," said the official, who declined to be named.

"This takes time, and the Japanese government overly criticizes our government does not help resolve the situation," the official added.

South Korea says there were nearly 150,000 victims of wartime forced labor, 5,000 of whom are alive. Japan says the compensation was settled by the 1965 treaty normalizing ties.

In December, a South Korean appeals court is expected to rule out a claim against Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (7011.T).