Kim Seong-tae, a former South Korean prisoner of war, speaks to reporters at the Seoul Central District Court on May 8, 2023, after winning a damages suit against North Korea and its leader Kim Jong-un. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, May 8 (Korea Bizwire) — Former South Korean prisoners of war (POWs) have again won a damages suit filed against North Korea and its leader Kim Jong-un for their forced labor during captivity there.
The Seoul Central District Court on Monday ordered North Korea and Kim to pay 50 million won (US$37,900) each to three former POWs, who escaped from the North in the early 2000s after being taken prisoner during the 1950-53 Korean War.
The three, including Kim Seong-tae, 91, launched their litigation in September 2020, arguing that they were taken to the communist state during the war and forced to work in a coal mine for about 33 months in the 1950s.
They escaped from the North between 2000 and 2001.
The ruling came after the same court issued a similar verdict in July 2000, in which the North and leader Kim were ordered to pay 21 million won each to two former POWs.
Kim Seong-tae and two other POWs filed their lawsuits two months after the first ruling.
In both cases, the court hearings proceeded without any party representing the defendants. Despite winning the cases, however, it seems difficult for the plaintiffs to actually receive the compensation.
Plaintiffs in the first case launched a lawsuit to collect their compensation from the Foundation of Inter-Korea Cooperation, a South Korean organization entrusted with the protection and management of North Korea’s copyrights but lost their case last year.
(Yonhap)
