Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono said that Japan is ready to take steps if South Koreans who recently won a lawsuit over their wartime forced labor freeze assets of a Japanese firm.

Japan's state broadcaster NHK reported on Tuesday that the minister made the remarks during his trip to Morocco.

In late October, South Korea's Supreme Court ordered Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation to compensate South Koreans forced into labor during Japan’s colonial rule of Korea. The plaintiffs recently said they will take steps to freeze the Japanese firm's assets. 

Regarding the plaintiffs' move, Kono reportedly told reporters that Tokyo expects Seoul will take proper steps to ensure the Japanese firm will not suffer, but if Seoul fails to do so, Tokyo is ready to take proper measures including sending the matter to international court. 

Meanwhile, Kenji Kanasugi, a Japanese Foreign Ministry official who attended director-level talks with South Korea on Monday, told reporters that Tokyo will wait for Seoul's review and moves regarding the forced labor ruling.