Tokyo, Jul 19 (AP/UNB) — Japan has summoned South Korea's ambassador to protest Seoul's refusal to join in an arbitration panel to settle a dispute over World War II labor.
South Korea had until midnight Thursday to respond to Japan's request for a three-nation panel.
The neighboring countries are quarreling over South Korean court decisions ordering Japanese companies to compensate victims of forced labor during Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.
Tokyo is considering taking the issue to the International Court of Justice.
Kyodo News service says Foreign Minister Taro Kono summoned South Korean Ambassador to Japan Nam Gwan Pyo on Friday morning.
At the same time, Seoul is protesting Japan's tightened controls on high-tech exports to South Korea that could affect global supplies of smartphones and displays.