Court of appeals again overturns ruling against forced labor victims

A Seoul court of appeals again reversed a district court ruling on compensation for South Korean victims of Japan's wartime forced labor Thursday, ordering Japan's Nishimatsu Construction Co. to compensate five victims. The Seoul High Court ruled that the Japanese company has to pay 20 million won (US$15,000) to one of the five, surnamed Bae, and 13 million won each to the four others. The five launched the lawsuit, claiming they were forcibly mobilized to work for the Japanese company during the 1910-45 Japanese colonial rule. Earlier, a district court ruled against the plaintiffs, saying their rights to claim compensation had expired. The right to claim civil damages expires 10 years after the date of an illegal act. But the appellate court seems to have decided that the victims were unable to exercise their claim against the Japanese company before the Supreme Court upheld two relevant compensation rulings in 2018. Only two weeks ago, another appellate court in Seoul overturned a district court ruling against forced labor victims for similar reasons. Source: Yonhap News Agency