Japan's foreign ministry summoned South Korean Ambassador Yun Duk-min to lodge a formal protest after a Korean victim of Japan's wartime forced labor received a liable Japanese firm's court deposit money as compensation.

According to Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi on Wednesday, vice foreign minister Masataka Okano expressed extreme regret over the "unjust disadvantage" the firm faces in accordance with a court ruling that violates the two sides' 1965 treaty, in which all reparation issues were settled.

On Tuesday, the victim, identified by the surname Lee, withdrew 60 million won, or around 45-thousand U.S. dollars, deposited to the Seoul Central District Court by Japanese industrial and engineering company Hitachi Zosen.

Last December, the South Korean Supreme Court ordered the 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.

Lee's legal counsel said it is the first time that a liable Japanese firm's voluntary payment has been delivered to a victim.