The ruling Democratic Party(DP) has welcomed a local court’s decision to proceed with a move to liquidate the seized assets of a Japanese firm involved in Japan’s wartime forced labor. 

During a party policy coordination meeting on Thursday, DP’s deputy floor leader Chun Jae-soo called it “a step to be naturally followed” and a “very good decision.”

He said the court’s move is also appropriate given the victims’ age. 

The Pohang branch of a Daegu court on Monday decided to issue a “public notification” of its earlier ruling on liquidation, after the Japanese Foreign Ministry refused to convey the related court documents to Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel Corporation.

The local court’s earlier ruling, which followed South Korea’s Supreme Court ruling in 2018 ordering the company to compensate victims, has been ignored. 

The DP senior official said Japan did not take action on the case and instead aggravated Seoul-Tokyo relations by calling for the reversal of the court decision. 

He urged Japan not to rid itself of a chance to sincerely apologize over historical wrongdoings and become a brother country. 

The minor progressive Justice Party also welcomed the move and urged Tokyo to sincerely take action to compensate victims.