Political relations between South Korea and Japan are going through a rocky patch as the Seoul government tries to rebalance its security alliance with Tokyo and the increasing economic importance of China. This tightrope has developed a new wobble with a South Korean Supreme Court ruling that South Koreans drafted as forced labour in Japanese factories during the Second World War have the right to demand compensation from the Japanese companies Nippon Steel, Sumitomo Metal and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
