Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has expressed regret over Seoul’s responses to South Korean court decisions on wartime forced labor issues. 

When asked about the matter at a meeting of the lower house of the Japanese parliament on Wednesday, Abe said he was “very sorry” about South Korea’s moves, adding they appear to negate the foundation on which the two countries’ relations have been built. 

He said Tokyo will unwaveringly deal with the issues based on international laws, including strongly demanding an appropriate response from Seoul.

Late last year, South Korea's Supreme Court ruled in favor of dozens of Korean forced labor victims against Japan’s Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Corporation and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. In a follow-up lawsuit, a court in Pohang decided early this month to permit the seizure of assets from one of the two Japanese firms.