Korean court orders Japanese firms to compensate wartime forced labor victims

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Korean court orders Japanese firms to compensate wartime forced labor victims

Published: 29 Nov. 2024, 16:30

The Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul [NEWS1]

A Korean court again ordered Japanese companies on Friday to provide compensation to victims of Japan's wartime forced labor.

The Seoul Central District Court ruled that Nippon Steel must pay 100 million won ($72,000) each to two Koreans forced into wartime labor in Japan, who are surnamed Choi and Kim, respectively. In Choi's case, he has already died so his bereaved family will receive the compensation, the court said.

Choi was forcibly taken to work for Kamaishi steel plant from January 1941 to September 1944, while Kim was forced to work at Yahata steel plant from April 1944 to September 1945.

The same court also ordered Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to pay 100 million won to a forced labor victim surnamed Yang, who was forcibly taken to the company's aircraft manufacturing plant in Nagoya in July 1943.

Korean courts nationwide have issued numerous compensation rulings in favor of forced labor victims and their families in cases brought against Japanese companies after the Supreme Court upheld two relevant rulings in 2018.

Yonhap