POSCO plans to form a 10 billion won ($8.6 million) fund by 2014 to compensate Korean workers forcefully taken to Japan during colonial rule, company officials said Sunday.

The plan was revealed after the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled in favor of two groups of Koreans claiming compensation from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. and Nippon Steel Corp. They demand that the two Japanese companies pay withheld salaries and compensation for their forced work between 1941 and 1944.

POSCO’s decision, however, was “irrelevant to the latest court ruling because it was made at a board meeting in mid-March as part of our social contribution activities,” a spokesperson told The Korea Herald.

She did not elaborate on the foundation’s compensation plans and potential recipients because details about the board meeting agenda are confidential.

The Pohang-based steelmaker was established in 1973 by the Korean government, partially using Japanese fund that was provided under a bilateral indemnity agreement in 1965 to settle wartime claims.

Other former and current state-run companies including KT, KT&G, Korea Expressway, Korea Electric Power, KORAIL, Korea Exchange Bank and Korea Water Resources used Japanese seed money during their foundation. Korea Expressway and Korea Electric Power are considering similar compensation programs.

In 2009, a group of 151 forced laborers and their families lost a damages suit against POSCO.

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)