SEOUL — A South Korean court on Monday dismissed a lawsuit filed by 85 victims of wartime forced labor seeking compensation from 16 Japanese firms, saying accepting the case might violate a 1965 treaty under international law.
The decision by the Seoul Central District Court will frustrate victims and their supporters in South Korea but it will avert anger from Japan, which considers the issue of compensation for its actions during its 1910-45 rule of Korea closed.
The historic feud, including over “comfort women”, Japan’s euphemism for mostly Korean women forced to work in its wartime brothels, has long soured bilateral ties between the two important U.S. allies.
A 2018 S…
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