Last year, the South Korean government ordered a Japanese firm... to provide compensation to Koreans forced to labor for little or no pay at the company during World War Two.
And on Wednesday an order took effect freezing the company's Korea-based assets.
Following the court's ruling, the Japanese government proposed launching bilateral talks to try and settle the issue.
Park Hee-jun reports.
The local assets of Nippon Steel and Sumimoto Metal Corporation were officially frozen on Wednesday after legal notification from the court was delivered to PNR, Nippon's joint venture with South Korean steelmaker POSCO.

The notice was sent by the Daegu District Court... after the Japanese steelmaker refused to respond to the Supreme Court's order to compensate Korean victims of wartime forced labor.
The assets in question are 81-thousand shares of PNR worth around 357-thousand U.S. dollars.
According to the Supreme Court's ruling, the company owes the four plaintiffs in the case about 87-thousand dollars each.

After the notice was sent, Tokyo formally requested negotiations with Seoul.
According to Japan's Kyodo News Agency,... Japan's Vice Foreign Minister Takeo Akiba summoned South Korea's Ambassador Lee Su-hoon to protest against the decision.
He also called for two-way talks based on the 1965 bilateral agreement that normalized ties between the two countries.
It would be the first time the two sides have held talks under the treaty about property claims.
But if negotiations don't work out,... the treaty calls for an arbitration committee that involves a third country.
And if that's not enough,... Japanese broadcaster NHK says the Japanese government could even consider taking the issue to the International Court of Justice.
Seoul's foreign ministry said unnecessary conflicts do not help resolve the issue.
But it added that it will closely review Tokyo's request.
Park Hee-jun, Arirang News.