Lawyers representing South Koreans seeking reparations from Japanese steel-maker Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Corp. over wartime labor issues declared Friday they will soon start the process of liquidating the company's seized assets.
The move came after the lawyers, who are now in Japan, were rebuffed by Nippon Steel when they sought to hold talks on compensation the company has been asked to pay in line with a South Korean top court ruling in October.
"It's regrettable that we could not even see the faces of (Nippon Steel) officials in charge of this matter even though we have made visits three times since last year" to the steel-maker's headquarters in central Tokyo, said Lim Jae-sung, one of the lawyers.