Seoul: The Supreme Court has finalized a ruling mandating a Japanese construction company, Kumagai Gumi, to compensate the family of a South Korean victim of wartime forced labor with 100 million won (US$69,500).

According to Yonhap News Agency, the lawsuit was initiated by the victim's family in April 2019. The victim, a 22-year-old known by the surname Park, was allegedly forced into labor at Kumagai Gumi's Fukushima office in October 1944, where he remained until his death in February of the following year. Park was among numerous Koreans subjected to forced labor during Japan's colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.

The Supreme Court's decision upholds an appellate court's ruling that reversed an earlier district court decision, which had dismissed the case based on the expiration of the statute of limitations. The appellate court determined that the statute of limitations should be calculated from 2018, when the top court affirmed the right of forced labor victims to pursue compensation for damages.