Japan's engineering company Hitachi Zosen and the country's government have expressed “extreme regret” over a Korean victim of Japan's wartime forced labor receiving Hitachi Zosen’s court deposit money as compensation in accordance with South Korean Supreme Court ruling last December that ordered liable Japanese companies to pay damages.

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said in a news conference on Tuesday that the payment to the victim, identified by the surname Lee, puts the Japanese company at a disadvantage. He said the payment was based on a court ruling that clearly goes against the 1965 treaty that normalized bilateral relations 

On whether Tokyo plans to lodge a protest over the payment, Hayashi said the Japanese government plans to appropriately convey to Seoul a stern sign of protest.

Meanwhile, an official of Hitachi Zosen told Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency that the firm is in the process of confirming the said payment, adding that the company had expressed its regret when the South Korean top court had issued its ruling late last year.

The official said the company has no plans to issue a separate comment after it completes the confirmation effort. 

Last December, the Supreme Court ordered the Japanese company to pay Lee 50 million won in damages and delayed interest, after which steps were taken for Lee to take the deposit of collateral the firm made in 2019, when it filed to suspend the execution of court-ordered compensation payments.