Asia

Over 50 South Koreans Seeking WWII Reparations Sue 9 Japanese Firms - Reports

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Fifty-four South Korean plaintiffs filed lawsuits on Monday against nine Japanese companies that allegedly forced the claimants' family members to work for them during World War II, Japan's NHK media outlet reported.
Sputnik

According to the outlet, each plaintiff is seeking about $88,000 in compensation.

Defendants include such companies as Mitsubishi materials, Sumiseki Holdings, and Nishamatsu Construction.

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Similar lawsuits have been filed in recent months and have exacerbated tensions between Tokyo and Seoul. Another such case ended with a South Korean court ruling in October that Japan's Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp should pay four plaintiffs around $90,000 each in reparations.

Japan has expressed discontent with the lawsuits, arguing that matters regarding wartime reparations were settled under the Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea of 1965 and caused unnecessary conflict.

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