Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono reportedly said on Sunday that Tokyo will respond promptly should South Korea cause any damage to Japanese companies in relation to a South Korean court ruling over wartime forced labor. 

Japan's public broadcaster NHK reported that Kono made the remarks regarding South Korean plaintiffs filing a motion last week seeking the selloff of seized Japanese firms' assets in Korea. 

Part of the South Korean Supreme Court’s 2018 verdict included the seizure of assets from Nachi-Fujikoshi and Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation -- now called Nippon Steel Corporation. 

Regarding South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha’s remarks that the people are exercising their due rights and that the government would not interfere, Kono called on Seoul to properly deal with the issue, adding that the legal foundation of South Korea-Japan relations may soon be damaged.

As for North Korea's Saturday launch of projectiles, Tokyo's top diplomat said that the U.S., South Korea and Japan are gathering and analyzing related information to confirm details of the launch.