Top court finalizes ruling in favor of Korean victims of Japan's forced labor

Families of late victim speak at a press conference after the Supreme Court decision, Seoul, Dec. 28. Yonhap

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld two separate rulings in favor of Koreans forced into wartime labor under Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule.

Several forced labor survivors, including a person surnamed Hong and families of late victims, filed two separate compensation suits in 2013 and 2015, respectively, against Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Hitachi Zosen for the damages they suffered from forced labor.

According to records, Hong and others were taken to Mitsubishi's munitions factory in Hiroshima in September 1944 and toiled as forced laborers before returning home following the atomic bombing in the area in August of the following year. Throughout their lives since returning home, the victims had to endure social and economic difficulties, as well as health damage related to exposure to radiation.

In 2013, Hong, other surviving victims and families of late victims filed the compensation suit against Mitsubishi, with each demanding 100 million won in compensation ($77,561).

The other suit against Hitachi was filed in 2015 by a forced labor victim, surnamed Lee, who worked at the firm's shipyard, starting in September 1944.

The top court on Thursday finalized the appellate court's rulings that ordered Mitsubishi and Hitachi to pay between 50 million won to 150 million won per victim in compensation.

Thursday's ruling follows the Supreme Court's landmark decision in 2012, where the court determined that the 1965 treaty signed between Korea and Japan to settle colonial-era issues does not cancel out individuals' rights to claim damages. Japan claims all reparation issues were settled in the 1965 treaty that normalized the bilateral diplomatic ties.

The ruling led to a series of fresh compensation suits by forced labor victims against Japanese firms, including those by Hong, who died during the litigation process, and Lee.

In Thursday's ruling, the top court rejected the Japanese firms' claim that the statute of limitations for the cases expired, adhering to the reasoning behind similar court decisions that recognized the victims' rights to damages because they had been practically unable to execute their rights to compensation until 2018, when the 2012 ruling by the Supreme Court was finalized.

A week earlier, the Supreme Court also finalized rulings in favor of forced labor victims in two separate cases filed against Mitsubishi and Nippon Steel, respectively. (Yonhap)