The Constitutional Court has dismissed a petition filed by a group of Koreans who were drafted to serve in the Japanese military during the colonial era and were later punished as war criminals.

The plaintiffs filed the appeal asking for compensation, arguing that government neglect of the issue violated their basic rights.

The court dismissed the case on Tuesday, saying that compensating Class-B and C war criminals after they were punished by an international tribunal cannot be considered the same as seeking reparations for sex slavery or atomic bomb victims.

The ruling comes seven years after the petition was filed in 2014 asking the court to review the constitutionality of the South Korean government turning a blind eye to the war criminal issue.

In the Tuesday verdict, four judges found it unconstitutional while five dismissed the case.