SEOUL– A ruling against a South Korean victim of forced labor during Japan’s colonial rule was finalized Thursday in a damages suit against a Japanese company, as the late victim’s surviving family members have decided not to challege it.
The Seoul Central District Court on Aug. 11 rejected the compensation sought by five surviving family members of the late victim, surnamed Lee, against Mitsubishi Materials Corp., citing the expiration of the case’s statute of limitations.
An appeal should be filed within two weeks of a verdict.
The plaintiffs lodged the suit in February 2017, demanding 100 million won (US$86,200) from Mitsubishi Materials in compensation for Lee’s forced labor in Japanese coal mines from 1941 to 1945 during World War II.
Korea was under Japan’s colonial rule from 1910-45.
Dismissing the case, the court said the three-year legal window was closed for the plaintiffs to be able to seek financial reparations.
In this case, the court said any legal action should have been taken during the three years following the Supreme Court’s 2012 decision when the victim could become aware of the possibility of winning a damages suit. On May 24 that year, the top court ordered the Seoul High Court to reconsider its ruling against four Korean forced labor victims, saying they should receive compensation from Japanese firms.
The following year, the high court ruled in favor of the victims and ordered Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. to pay 100 million won in compensation to each victim, in a landmark ruling.
Source: Yonhap News Agency