Courts reject Foreign Ministry's compensation deposit requests

A court in Suwon was the latest one to say no to deposit compensation money for forced labor victims and their relatives who have refused to take the third-party compensation following earlier rejections by courts in Gwangju and Jeonju.

Members of civic groups protest in front of the Foreign Ministry in seoul on Tuesday against the ministry's decision to deposit third-party compensation money refused by some forced labor victims to local courts. [YONHAP]

Courts are refusing the Foreign Ministry’s request to deposit third-party compensation money that some forced labor victims have refused.

A court in Suwon on Wednesday became the latest one to say no, following earlier rejections by courts in Gwangju and Jeonju.

The ministry had requested courts to deposit compensation money for forced labor victims and their relatives who have refused to take the third-party compensation arranged by the Korean government.

The holdouts are four victims and relatives out of the original 15 plaintiffs who sued Japanese companies for compensation. As of late May, 11 plaintiffs have decided to take third-party compensation, mostly from Korean corporate donations.

In announcing its decision to deposit the unclaimed compensation money at courts earlier this week, the ministry stressed that they were not trying to force the four victims and their relatives to take the money, but rather leaving the option open if they change their minds.

The ministry also stressed that simply depositing the money inflicts no legal consequences on the status of the four plaintiffs.

The local courts say otherwise.

“Since the [plaintiff] expresses clear objection to the third party's payment, [the ministry's request] cannot meet the requirements for third party payments according to the Civil Act,” said the court in Jeonju on Wednesday.

Of the four plaintiffs, two are surviving victims — Yang Geum-deok and Lee Chun-sik — and the other two are relatives of victims.

Yang’s lawyer Lim Jae-sung told media outlets that should the deposit be legally processed through and accepted by the courts, the four plaintiffs in question could lose their claims to compensation from the Japanese companies should the Supreme Court decide to liquidate Japanese assets to pay the victims.

The ministry, which argues that court officials lack the authority to dismiss the ministry’s requests to deposit the money, said it will submit another request to the courts to reconsider their decisions.

The ministry came up with the third-party compensation measure earlier this year to revitalize stalled relations with Japan.

In a landmark ruling on Oct. 30, 2018, the Korean Supreme Court ordered Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Corporation, renamed Nippon Steel in 2019, to pay 100 million won ($76,800) each to Korean victims of Japanese forced labor. The Supreme Court made a similar ruling on Nov. 29, 2018, against Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

Japan protested the decision, claiming that all compensation issues related to its colonial rule were resolved with a treaty with Korea in 1965. Korea’s top court acknowledged the illegality of Japan’s 1919-45 colonial rule and recognized that individuals' rights to compensation had not expired.

Both Nippon Steel and Mitsubishi refused to comply with the top court's decisions, and the victims filed another case requesting the liquidation of the assets of two Japanese companies to compensate forced labor victims.

BY ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]