By Chung Min-uck

The Japanese are reacting negatively to the Supreme Court’s ruling, which allows Korean victims of forced labor during Japan’s colonial rule (1910-45) to claim compensation.

This reaction by the former colonial power is straining Seoul-Tokyo ties.

The strain comes at a time when negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) which was stalled in 2004 are to resume.

A number of Korean civic groups, which support wartime laborers and their bereaved family members, announced plans to file lawsuits against Japanese firms for compensation following the landmark decision.

The number of registered victims forced to work during the colonial era exceeds 140,000.

Many Koreans have a deep resentment toward Japan over not acknowledging and compensating for their actions during World War II.

Experts here speculate this can further deteriorate the relationship between the two nations resulting in delaying or scrapping of the long-awaited bilateral accords such as the Korea-Japan FTA and two military agreements on sharing military intelligence and logistics.

“Though it is a ‘non-governmental issue,’ the ruling can affect the ongoing bilateral cooperation between Korea and Japan as consequences unfold,” said Hwang Sun-taek, head of the Department of Asian and Pacific Studies at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy, a research institute affiliated to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Lawyers here, who back the law suits against Japanese firms, claim even if Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Nippon Steel Corp., two firms held responsible for compensating forced laborers, refuse to accept the ruling, ex-Korean workers can receive compensation by having their properties in Korea seized.

Yoshitaka Sindo, a Japanese lawmaker of the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), told The Korea Times Sunday, “if those measures are enforced, Japanese government can claim the properties that it has abandoned in the Korean Peninsula (after the loss of World War II),” hinting at a possible counter-measure from Tokyo.

Sindo, an outspoken Japanese lawmaker, has previously been a source of diplomatic tension between the two nations as he attempted to visit Ulleung Island last year. The island is the closest land to Dokdo, another sensitive diplomatic task with Japan over its sovereignty.

Japanese bloggers lashed out at the court's ruling too.

“The ruling is all wrong. The problem has been resolved through the Korea-Japan Claims Settlement Agreement in 1965. We cannot say Korea is a law-governed state,” wrote a Japanese user named Sasaki on his Twitter, Sunday.

The Japanese government adheres to the position that all compensation in regard to the issue was made under the Korea-Japan Claims Settlement Agreement in 1965 where Seoul agreed not to demand additional compensation for damages incurred during the colonial era in return for $800 million. In 2007, Japan’s Supreme Court ruled against the compensation claim citing the expiration of the statute of limitations.

This week, officials from Seoul and Tokyo plan to have working-level meetings on the possible restart of the free trade agreement (FTA) negotiation which has been stalled since 2004. Negotiations for the Korea-Japan FTA were called off as Tokyo refused to open up its agricultural market due to mounting criticism from within. Japan is sensitive about importing agricultural products and reducing non-tariff barriers.

Meanwhile, Korea and Japan are in the final stage of reaching agreements on sharing military intelligence and logistics. If signed, the pacts would be the first of its kind since Japan’s colonial rule over Korea ended in 1945.

A day after the ruling was made, a Japanese civic group asked to delay the signing of the military agreements with Korea in front of the Ministry of Defense in Tokyo.