Textile maker Teijin Ltd. has paid 200,000 yen each to at least 10 South Korean women forced to work as slave laborers at a Japanese spinning factory in Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture, during World War II, the women's lawyer said Wednesday.
Teijin absorbed the spinning factory in 1991. It made the payment earlier this year out of a "humanitarian consideration," lawyer Seita Yamamoto said.
"As far as I know, there have been no companies that have voluntarily paid," Yamamoto said. "It is not a matter of the amount of money. I welcome the attitude" shown by Teijin.
A spokesman for the major textile manufacturer confirmed that such payments had been made to 10 women, and added that "a few other cases" were still under discussion.
In 1997, Yamamoto helped two of the women file a lawsuit seeking an apology from the Japanese government and compensation totaling 60 million yen for being forced to work as slave labor. The Shizuoka District Court rejected the suit.
After the Supreme Court dismissed their appeals last year, the pair directly appealed to Teijin for compensation.