Seoul warns Tokyo over forced labor issue during WWII

SEOUL - Japan should avoid aggravating historical tensions in a diplomatic row over Koreans who were forced to work for Japanese companies during World War II, the Republic of Korea's foreign ministry has said.

The ROK's top court ruled last month that Japan's Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp must compensate four ROK citizens for their forced labor during the war, which Japan's government has denounced as "unthinkable".

The binding court verdict is straining relations between the neighbors and could affect bilateral efforts to rein in Pyongyang's nuclear program, analysts say.