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Nippon Steel ordered to pay $57,000 to forced labor victim's family by South Korean Supreme Court
🇰🇷 South Korea /Crime & Justice

Nippon Steel ordered to pay $57,000 to forced labor victim's family by South Korean Supreme Court

From Dong-A Ilbo · () Korean

Translated from Korean, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Sources not specified Outcome reported
  • A South Korean court has ordered Nippon Steel to pay 80 million won (approximately $57,000) in damages to the family of a forced labor victim from the Japanese colonial era.
  • The Supreme Court rejected Nippon Steel's argument that the statute of limitations had expired, ruling that the family could file suit after a landmark 2018 ruling recognized victims' rights.
  • This ruling is part of a series of lawsuits by victims against Japanese companies, though actual compensation has been rare, with only one case settled so far.

The Supreme Court of South Korea has again ruled that Nippon Steel must compensate the family of a forced labor victim from the Japanese colonial era. The court ordered the company to pay 80 million won (approximately $57,000) in damages.

Nippon Steel had argued that the legal period for filing lawsuits had passed. However, the court disagreed, stating that the family could pursue damages after a pivotal 2018 Supreme Court ruling that recognized the right of forced labor victims to seek compensation. The court viewed the period after this 2018 ruling as the point when the impediment to exercising these rights was removed.

The victims' side's claim for damages against Japanese companies like Nippon Steel and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has continued since the Supreme Court's en banc ruling in 2018.

— ReporterContext about ongoing lawsuits against Japanese companies.

The victim, Min Moon-sik, was forced to work at Nippon Steel's Kamaishi steelworks for five months in 1942 before escaping. He passed away in 1989. His family filed a lawsuit in 2019, seeking 100 million won for the mental anguish caused by his forced labor and separation from family.

This decision is one of several lawsuits filed by victims against Japanese companies following the 2018 Supreme Court ruling. Despite a string of favorable judgments for the victims, actual compensation has been scarce, with only one company, Hitachi Zosen, having paid damages so far.

Victories for the victims' side are coming in succession, but Japanese companies are effectively refusing to pay damages, and only one case, Hitachi Zosen, has actually led to compensation.

— ReporterContext about the difficulty in obtaining actual compensation.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Dong-A Ilbo in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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