SEOUL-- South Korean victims of wartime forced labor and their families on Monday appealed a recent decision by a Seoul court to reject their damages suit against Japanese companies.
On June 7, the Seoul Central District Court dismissed the lawsuit by 85 plaintiffs, saying they do not have legal rights to claim individual damages. They sought compensation from 16 Japanese companies, including Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.
A civic group supporting forced labor victims submitted an appeal to the court on behalf of 75 of the plaintiffs. The rest will appeal later.
"The ruling did injustice to 7.83 million forced laborers, their families and the people," the group said during a press conference in front of the court in southern Seoul. "The judge deserves an impeachment."
The bereaved family of Lee Ki-taek, a late victim, said, "We despair at the sad reality that our father's suffering is being distorted and denied. But we will never give up. Please help us rectify the wrong."
They also urged President Moon Jae-in to take action to resolve the issue if he does not want to receive a shameful assessment by the next generation.
Korea was under Japan's brutal colonial rule from 1910-45. More than 1 million Koreans were conscripted to work for Japanese companies and its military during World War II, according to government data.
The court ruled that it cannot be said that individual claims were terminated or waived by the 1965 Korea-Japan treaty on normalizing ties.
"But the individual rights cannot be exercised through lawsuits," the court said.
"An acceptance of the plaintiffs' claim in this case may result in a violation of international law," it added.
The ruling is in sharp contrast to an October 2018 ruling by the Supreme Court, which upheld an appeals court ruling in 2013 that ordered Nippon Steel to pay each of four Korean plaintiffs 100 million won (US$89,534) in compensation for their wartime forced labor and unpaid work.
Source: Yonhap News Agency