Forcing Koreans to work -- what was essentially slave labor --- was one of a number of atrocities committed against Korea during Japan's brutal colonial rule of the peninsula.
An estimated one-point-two million of Koreans were forced to work in Japanese industries with little or no pay.... and many actually died because of the awful conditions and dangerous work.
After more than 70 years since the colonization came to an end,... a final Supreme Court ruling on some of the workers' cases is due in a couple of hours.
It's a decision that could have big repercussions for the diplomatic relationship between Seoul and Tokyo.
Lee Ji-won has more.
South Korea's Supreme Court is set to rule on a damages lawsuit against Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation that was filed by four Korean victims of Japan's forced labor during Tokyo's unforgiving colonial rule of Korea.
The verdict is due to be announced at 2PM, Korea time.

The victims first filed a lawsuit in Japan in 1997,... but the Japanese court ruled that colonization is not illegal, thus there was no legal issue with using forced labor during that time.
The Japanese government also continues to maintain that the 1965 bilateral agreement, "Concerning the Settlement of Problems in Regard to Property and Claims and Economic Cooperation" draws a line under the two countries' history.
The agreement was reached to normalize diplomatic relations between Seoul and Tokyo,... under which Japan paid South Korea five hundred million U.S. dollars.

Having lost in the Japanese court, the plaintiffs sued the Japanese company in South Korea in 2005.
And after years of trials and appeals,... the Seoul High Court finally ordered the company to pay around 89-thousand U.S. dollars per victim in 2013,... ruling that forced labor goes against constitutional values and the 1965 agreement does not terminate individuals' right to reparation.
Later that year,... an appeal was lodged by the steel company with no further development on the case from then on.

Now five years on, only one of the four original plaintiffs is still alive.
But with Japan continuing to insist the issue has long been settled and even threatening to take it all the way to the International Court of Justice,... Seoul-Tokyo ties could be in for a rough ride if the Supreme Court rules in favor of the victims.
Lee Ji-won, Arirang News.