Top diplomats of South Korea and Japan had a phone conversation Wednesday over the South Korean top court's ruling on the wartime forced labor, according to Seoul's foreign ministry.

South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha had phone talks on Wednesday morning with her Japanese counterpart Taro Kono to exchange opinions over the Supreme Court's ruling on the four South Korean victims who were forced into labor for a Japanese steel producer during World War .

The Supreme Court judged Tuesday that Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. must pay 100 million won (about 87,700 U.S. dollars) to each of the four victims who initiated the damages lawsuit in 2005.

In response to the Japanese government's worry about the top court's ruling, Kang told Kono that the South Korean government respected the judiciary branch's judgement.

Kang and Kono stressed the need to continue cooperation for the development of the bilateral relations in a future-oriented manner, the Seoul ministry said.