Japan has protested to South Korea over a court order that forces Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. to sell assets in the country to provide compensation for wartime forced labor, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Tuesday.

"It is extremely regrettable. Liquidating (the assets) would invite a grave situation for both Japan and South Korea," Motegi told reporters following the local court's decision on Monday that Mitsubishi must sell assets, which were earlier seized by former plaintiffs in lieu of compensation in a lawsuit they won against the Japanese company.

Motegi added that the Japanese government urged the South Korean government to correct what they say is a violation of international law.

It is the first time that a South Korean court has ordered the sale of a Japanese company's assets in relation to the issue. If the assets are actually liquidated, it will likely deal another blow to already frayed bilateral relations.

Japan takes the position that all claims stemming from its 35-year colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula were settled under a 1965 bilateral agreement under which it provided financial aid to Seoul.

==Kyodo

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