South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin met with Korean plaintiffs in Japanese wartime labor cases on Friday as the government of President Yoon Seok-yeol works to solve the issue before it inflames tensions with Tokyo.
There is speculation that the South Korean Supreme Court may soon finalize a court order to liquidate assets seized from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, one of two Japanese firms the top court had found liable for forced labor during World War II.
Park visited two plaintiffs, a man and a woman, in Gwangju in the country's southwest. Both are in their 90s and neither has received compensation despite being awarded damages.