FILE PHOTO: The logo of Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp.'s Kimitsu steel plant is pictured at its exhibition hall in Kimitsu, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, May 31, 2018. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

SEOUL (Reuters) - A South Korean court on Tuesday approved a request by plaintiffs in a wartime forced labor case to seize part of the local assets of Japan’s Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp, Yonhap News Agency said, citing a court official.

On Dec. 31, the plaintiffs applied to the Daegu District Court for the seizure of 81,075 shares held by Nippon Steel in PNR, its Korea-based joint venture with steelmaker POSCO, Yonhap said.

This is part of a total of 2.34 million shares worth about 11 billion won ($9.78 million) owned by the Japanese steelmaker, the report said.

The move came after a ruling by South Korea’s Supreme Court ruling in October that Nippon Steel should pay 100 million won to each of four South Koreans to compensate them for suffering forced labor during the World War Two.Nippon Steel was not immediately available for comment.