Korea's top court on Monday ordered the state to compensate families of a group of leftist activists massacred by the South's military and police during the 1950-53 Korean War, confirming a lower court's ruling.
When the war broke out in June, 1950, the Seoul government detained a group of around 400 people who were branded pro-communism supporters, in the aim of deterring the spread of communism. Most of the detainees were slaughtered over the next month by the South Korean military and police.
The existence of the group was denied by the government until its gruesome story was acknowledged in 2007 when a committee, which intended to disclose the truth about the victims during the war and restore their honor, released the names and other personal information of the 315 victims.
In 2009, 492 family members of the victims filed a compensation suit with the court, arguing that the government is obliged to pay compensation for the mental losses inflicted on the families of the victims.
The government rejected the demand, saying the statute of limitations had expired.
The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed the government's argument as an abuse of its right and imposed a compensation figure of 80 million won ($70,360) for each victim, 40 million won for each of the victims' spouses, and 8 million won for each of their parents and children.
A district court previously ruled in favor of the state but an appellate court overturned that ruling and sided with the families of victims.
The two Koreas remain technically at war as the three-year Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty. (Yonhap)