The head of a Japanese firm ordered by a court to compensate South Korean victims of wartime forced labor says the company will watch Tokyo’s responses to Seoul before mulling its actions. 

Kosei Shindo, president of Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal, made the remark in a meeting with reporters in Tokyo on Wednesday. 

Japan's Kyodo News quoted him as saying his company will provide the Japanese government with necessary information as Tokyo responds to the South Korean government over the issue. 

Shindo said the company's business remained unaffected by a South Korean court’s decision to seize its Korea-based assets, as requested by four South Korean plaintiffs in a forced labor case.

He reiterated his stance that the forced labor issue had been fully addressed by a 1965 normalization treaty between the two countries. 

He also questioned Seoul’s stance that it cannot help but respect its courts’ decision given the country’s principle of separation of powers between the administration and the judiciary, saying international treaties are higher than the principle. 

In late October, South Korea's Supreme Court ordered the Japanese firm to compensate the four victims 100 million won each, but the Japanese firm has refused to follow the order.