A Japanese court on Thursday rejected a suit lodged by some South Korean women seeking compensation and apology for their sufferings in a Japanese factory during World War II.

In the ruling, the Nagoya District Court said the plaintiffs' right to seek damages had lapsed under a 1965 agreement on wartime damages claims between Japan and South Korea, according to Kyodo News.

The seven plaintiffs filed the lawsuit in March 1999 and December 2000, claiming for 240 million yen (1.4 million US dollars) in damages and an apology from the state and the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.

The agreement ruled out damages claim by individual South Koreans for their wartime sufferings caused by Japan, and offered a "final solution" to the issue through 500 million dollar economic assistance by Japan to South Korea.

The plaintiffs said they came to Japan in 1944 at ages of 13 to15 after being promised that higher education would be offered while working in Japan.

On arriving, however, they were forced to work at a Mitsubishi arms factory in Nagoya without schooling and payment.

The seven plaintiffs said they suffered mental anguish after returning home as they were wrongfully believed to have been forced into sexual slavery for the Japanese military.

They returned to South Korea following Japan's surrender in August 1945.

Former South Korean and Chinese forced laborers and other victims seeking compensations and Japanese government and business apologies have seen few favorable sentences.

The Japanese government and companies routinely claim that the wrongdoings were committed under the wartime circumstances and refuse to take responsibilities.

Source: Xinhua