South Korea says the bereaved families of 10 individuals deemed by court to be entitled to damages from Japanese firms for wartime labor have expressed their intention to receive payments through a government-affiliated foundation.

In 2018, South Korea's Supreme Court ordered two Japanese companies to pay compensation to those who say they or their relatives were forced to work for the firms during World War Two.

The South Korean government last month announced a plan to have a foundation affiliated with it make payments in place of the Japanese businesses.

The South Korean foreign ministry's director general for Asia and Pacific affairs, Seo Min-jung, said on Thursday that 10 of the 15 people entitled to damages showed their intention to receive money from the foundation.

Seo said the other five oppose the government's plan and intend to refuse the payment. They include three plaintiffs who say they were forced to work for the Japanese firms.

Seo said the government will not ask those who receive payments from the foundation whether they will renounce their claims to damages from the Japanese companies.

She said the payments from the foundation are not aimed at canceling the plaintiffs' claims, but that they are an attempt to fulfill their legal rights.

A group supporting the plaintiffs issued a statement on Thursday reiterating its criticism of the government's plan. It said the plan tramples on the plaintiffs' rights.

The foreign ministry says it will continue to explain the plan.

The Japanese government says any right to claims was settled completely and finally by a bilateral agreement in 1965, when Japan and South Korea normalized ties.