Japan has reportedly decided to take the forced labor ruling dispute with South Korea to the next level -- an arbitration by a third party. <br />Japan, in early January,... requested talks with Seoul on this matter, with a 30-day deadline. <br />The South Korean government has not replied regarding the matter,... and Asahi Shimbun says, citing sources familiar with the matter, that Tokyo is planning to form a third-party arbitration committee that is agreed upon by both sides.<br />But it added that Tokyo is considering 30 day extension to the deadline.<br />Starting last October,... South Korean courts handed down a string of rulings that ordered Japanese firms to compensate Korean victims of forced labor during World War II.<br />Japan protested against the ruling,... saying it had already compensated the victims as part of a bilateral agreement in 1965 to normalize ties. <br />
