Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Files Immediate Appeal against Asset Seizure in South Korea

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:08 JST, January 4, 2021

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. has filed an immediate appeal to stop the seizure of its assets by a South Korean court in connection with a lawsuit against the company by former wartime workers from the Korean Peninsula, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.

The appeal will be heard to determine whether the seizure is proper.

In response to the complaint by the plaintiffs, including members of the Korean Women’s Volunteer Labor Corps, the court had been proceeding with the seizure of Mitsubishi Heavy trademarks and patent rights, and their conversion into cash.

Although Mitsubishi Heavy had refused to accept documents related to the seizure, a so-called public notification was approved on Dec. 30. This refers to a process in which the court deems that the documents have reached the parties by posting them on its website for a certain period of time.

Similar procedures are being taken in connection with a lawsuit against Nippon Steel Corp., formerly known as Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. Nippon Steel also filed an immediate appeal against the seizure of its assets last year.