"South Korea court again dismisses wartime labor suit against Japan firm" 8 September 2021

A South Korean district court on Wednesday dismissed a wartime labour-related damages lawsuit against Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel Corp., on the grounds that the plaintiffs launched the suit after a statute of limitations on the civil case had expired.

The same Seoul Central District Court judge dismissed a similar suit against another Japanese company, Mitsubishi Materials Corp., last month on the same grounds.

After the South Korean Supreme Court in 2018 ordered Nippon Steel and another Japanese company to compensate plaintiffs over forced labour during World War II, a spate of rulings against Japanese firms followed in lower courts. But this year, plaintiffs in similar cases have lost in district courts, signaling disagreement among judges on this matter.

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The Supreme Court is expected to rule in the future on when the clock began ticking on the statute of limitations regarding this issue.

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