Delamination Is Caused by Shrinkage Defects in The Steel Ingot. After The Steel Ingot with A Shrinkage Cavity Is Rolled into A Steel Strip, A Layer Is Formed in The Middle of The Section. The Internal

A South Korean court on Tuesday became able to order the sale of assets belonging to a Japanese steel-maker over a 2018 top court wartime forced labor compensation order that has roiled ties between the two countries.

Monday was the last day before the Daegu District Court’s Pohang branch could legally consider court documents regarding its seizure of the Nippon Steel Corp. assets, by way of publishing them on its website for the last two months.

The court is expected to begin considering in earnest the ordering of the assets’ sale to pay four Korean plaintiffs the 100 million won (¥8.9 million) each the Supreme Court found they are entitled to receiving in damages.

Nippon Steel issued a statement Tuesday saying it plans to file an immediate appeal once the court approves the asset seizure. It will have one week to do so before the seizure is finalized.

It is expected to take at least several months before the assets can be liquidated upon court order and proceeds from the sale can be paid to the plaintiffs. But Tuesday’s development has taken the already chilled Japanese-South Korean ties closer to a precipice.