The three surviving victims of Japan's wartime forced labor who won a damages suit against Japanese firms have officially refused Seoul's plan to compensate them through donations collected from domestic companies.

According to their legal counsel on Monday, survivors Yang Geum-deok and Kim Seong-joo delivered certified mail to the interior ministry's Foundation for Victims of Forced Mobilization by Imperial Japan responsible for paying the compensation.

The documents request that the foundation not proceed with the remittance, noting that third-party compensation does not legally satisfy the victims' Supreme Court-confirmed receivables against the two Japanese firms.

The third victim, Lee Choon-sik, also sent a similar document to the foundation through his legal representative.

The government's plan announced last week concerns 15 victims whose legal cases have won a compensation order from the top court in 2018.