SEOUL -- South Korea's Foreign Ministry announced Monday that a South Korean foundation had begun procedures to deposit with local courts an amount equivalent to compensation for four plaintiffs who demand certain Japanese companies pay them for their labor in Japan during World War II, but who have refused to accept money from the foundation.
A series of lawsuits filed by individuals from the Korean Peninsula who claim they were requisitioned wartime laborers has been the largest stumbling block in Japan-South Korea relations.
If the deposit-related procedures are authorized and the money is transferred to the courts, it will be the legal equivalent of the plaintiffs having received the money, according to South Korean government sources.
