Relatives of 11 Koreans who died as a result of performing forced labor in Japan during World War II have filed an appeal with the Tokyo High Court against a March ruling that rejected their suit seeking compensation from the government, their lawyers said Monday.
The South Korean relatives representing the laborers -- all of whom had died by the end of the war after being forcibly brought to Japan from the Korean Peninsula between 1942 and 1945 -- had sought 220 million yen in damages from the government and an apology for its actions.
The laborers were made to work at the Kamaishi steel mill run by Japan Iron and Steel Co., now known as Nippon Steel Corp., in Iwate Prefecture. In its March 26 ruling, the Tokyo District Court recognized that forced labor took place but rejected the plaintiffs' claims, saying, "There was no law at the time that acknowledged the state's responsibility to compensate."