A book on a legal battle between the Japanese firm Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. and 300 South Koreans who were forced into labor decades ago has hit the shelves, a civic group supporting the victims said Sunday.
  
The book explains detailed court records of a decade-long battle starting in 1999 when eight S. Korean victims first filed a lawsuit with a Japanese court against Mitsubishi Heavy, demanding compensation for their forced labor during the country's 1910-45 colonial rule.
  
The legal battle ended in a loss for the victims when Japan's top court ruled against them in November 2008.
  
The civic group said it plans to hold a publication party next Tuesday with the victims, and the revenue from the sales will be used to support the victims.
  
The issue of forced labor is becoming increasingly urgent as most surviving victims are well over 80 years old and may die before they receive compensation or an apology from the Japanese firms.
  
Both the Japanese government and the companies that used forced laborers, however, have refused to pay any compensation, saying that all issues regarding its colonial rule, including sex slavery and monetary reparations, were covered by a 1965 package agreement that normalized relations between the two nations. (Yonhap)