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Just as the ruling acknowledging the responsibility of the Japanese government and corporations for the issue of former forced laborers and comfort women during the Japanese colonial period has had a major impact on overall diplomacy with Japan, this ruling will also help improve future exchanges and relations with North Korea.
On May 19th, according to the South Korean legal community and the law firm Chunshim, which represents Ko Won-sik's son, the Gangneung Branch of the Chuncheon District Court said that Ko's side is North Korea. The court ruled that the plaintiff won the damages lawsuit filed against Kim Jong-un.
The main point of the report is that North Korea and Kim Jong-un should compensate South Korean citizens who died as a result of the 1968 Uljin and Samcheok armed guerrilla invasions. At the time, North Korean guerrillas invading through Uljin and Samcheok killed Koh Won-sik's (then 35) father (60), mother (61), wife (32), elder daughter (6) and younger daughter (3) in Pyongchang. The victim's son, who lost all five members of his family and lived in pain and suffering for the rest of his life, filed a claim for damages against the North Koreans.
The plaintiff said, "The total of 900 million won, including 150 million won for the death of the parents and 200 million won for the death of the spouse and children." In particular, it claimed that Kim Jong-un, the grandson of the late North Korean leader Kim Il-sung, who ruled North Korea at the time, was responsible for paying about 36.3 million won in consideration of his inheritance.
The court upheld the full amount claimed and ruled that North Korea and Kim Jong-un should be compensated 40 million won and 9.09 million won respectively. From November 1968, when the incident occurred, to February 2022, it was ordered to pay delay damages calculated at a rate of 5% per year, and from the next day until the day when the full amount was compensated, at a rate of 12% per year.
On the other hand, after winning the lawsuit, Ko plans to attempt compulsory execution of the 2 billion won in royalties for the use of North Korean copyrighted works by domestic broadcasters and publishers that have been deposited with the court.
Attorney Ryu Jae-yul of the law firm Chunshim said, "I would like to express my gratitude to the victims and their bereaved families who did not receive any compensation or support at the national level despite being tragically damaged by anti-human crimes at the time. I hope that there will be a substantive minimum compensation and support."
2023/05/23 12:14 KST
