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South Korean Court Tells Japanese Company to Pay for Forced Labor South Korean Court Tells Japanese Company to Pay for Forced Labor
(about 4 hours later)
SEOUL, South Korea — In a verdict expected to intensify tensions related to Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean peninsula, a South Korean court ruled on Tuesday that Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of Japan should pay compensation to five South Koreans for forced labor during the colonial period that ended with World War II. SEOUL, South Korea — In a verdict expected to intensify tensions with Japan, a South Korean court ordered Mitsubishi Heavy Industries on Tuesday to pay compensation to five South Koreans who were forced to work in the company’s factories during the period of Japanese colonial rule of Korea, which ended with World War II.
The high court in Busan, the port city in southeastern South Korea, ordered the Japanese company to pay $71,800 to each of the five Koreans. The high court in Busan, a port city in southeastern South Korea, ordered the company to pay $71,800 to each of the five Koreans.
It was the second such ruling this month. On July 10, the Seoul High Court ordered Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. of Japan to pay $89,800 to each of four South Korean plaintiffs in unpaid salaries and compensation for forced labor during the colonial rule from 1910 to 1945. It was the second such ruling against a Japanese company this month. On July 10, the Seoul High Court ordered the Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Corporation to pay $89,800 to each of four South Korean plaintiffs to compensate for forced labor. Nippon Steel and Mitsubishi each said they plan appeals.
Nippon Steel and Mitsubishi planned to appeal the decisions. The Busan court said in its ruling that Mitsubishi forced the South Korean plaintiffs to “toil in poor conditions in Hiroshima and yet failed to pay wages,” and “did not provide proper shelters or food after the dropping of an atomic bomb” there in 1945. All five plaintiffs are now deceased; their families represented them in court.
The Busan court said in its ruling that Mitsubishi forced the South Korean plaintiffs to “toil in poor conditions in Hiroshima and yet failed to pay wages,” and “did not provide proper shelters or food after the dropping of an atomic bomb” there in 1945. The two rulings were the first in favor of South Koreans in a 16-year legal battle waged in Japan and South Korea, and they could prompt similar lawsuits from other victims or their families. At least 1.2 million Koreans were forced to work for Japan’s war efforts in Japan, China and elsewhere, historians here said. Some 300 Japanese companies that are still in operation are believed to have used forced labor during the colonial period from 1910 to 1945, according to officials in the South Korean capital, Seoul.
The five plaintiffs in the Mitsubishi case were all deceased and their families represented them. South Korean plaintiffs first sued in Japan in 1997, but Japan’s top court dismissed the cases in 2005, saying that the 1965 treaty normalizing diplomatic ties between Japan and South Korea closed the issue.
The rulings against Nippon Steel and Mitsubishi were the first in favor of South Koreans in a 16-year-old legal battle waged in Japan and South Korea, and it could trigger similar lawsuits from other victims or their families. At least 1.2 million Koreans were forced to work for Japan’s war efforts in Japan, China and elsewhere, according to historians here. The companies took the same position in the South Korean court cases. “While we have not confirmed the details of the ruling, we understand that all such claims between the two countries, including compensation for interned laborers, have been completely and conclusively settled under official state agreements,” a spokesman for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries said Tuesday in a statement reacting to the Busan court’s ruling. “A ruling that goes against these agreements has no legitimacy and is truly regrettable.”
“While we have not confirmed the details of the ruling, we understand that all such claims between the two countries, including compensation for interned laborers, have been completely and conclusively settled under official state agreements,” a spokesman for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries said in a statement. Local judges in South Korea honored the rulings by the Japanese courts in the companies’ favor, but the Supreme Court overturned their rulings in a landmark decision in May 2012 and sent the cases back to the lower courts for trial, saying that the Japanese rulings went against the Constitution of South Korea and international legal norms.
“A ruling that goes against these agreements has no legitimacy and is truly regrettable,” he said.
South Korean victims first filed compensation lawsuits in Japan in 1997. Japan’s top court ruled against them in 2005, saying that the issue of compensation for forced labor was closed under the 1965 treaty that normalized diplomatic ties between Japan and South Korea. The government in Tokyo maintained the same position.
The victims had suffered setbacks in their lawsuits in South Korea, as the local judges honored the rulings by the Japanese courts. But in a landmark decision in May last year, South Korea’s Supreme Court overturned their rulings and sent the cases back to the lower courts, saying that the Japanese courts’ verdicts went against the constitution of South Korea and international legal norms.
“We have two different rulings on the same cases in two different countries,” said Chang Wan-ick, a lawyer and leading advocate for South Korean victims. “The civilized societies around the world will know which ruling is right: Mobilizing civilians for forced labor for a war of aggression is wrong.”“We have two different rulings on the same cases in two different countries,” said Chang Wan-ick, a lawyer and leading advocate for South Korean victims. “The civilized societies around the world will know which ruling is right: Mobilizing civilians for forced labor for a war of aggression is wrong.”
If the rulings against Nippon Steel and Mitsubishi are upheld by the Supreme Court in South Korea and the Japanese companies still refuse to compensate the plantiffs, the victims could try to have the Japanese companies’ assets in South Korea confiscated — a move that would certainly escalate into a diplomatic spat. If the rulings against Nippon Steel and Mitsubishi are upheld by the Supreme Court in South Korea and the Japanese companies refuse to pay compensation, the plaintiffs could try to have the court seize assets of the companies in South Korea, a step that would certainly escalate into a diplomatic spat.
On Tuesday, the South Korean bar association urged the Japanese companies and Tokyo and Seoul to avoid such a confrontation by establishing a foundation to compensate the victims and promote “historical reconciliation.” On Tuesday, the South Korean bar association urged the Japanese companies and the governments of Japan and South Korea to avoid such a confrontation by establishing a foundation to compensate the victims and promote “historical reconciliation.”
The Foreign Ministry of South Korea said it was closely monitoring the civil cases. The Foreign Ministry of South Korea said it was closely monitoring the court cases.
About 300 Japanese companies currently in operation were believed to have used forced labor during the colonial period, according to South Korean officials.