"State Must Compensate 5·18 Victims," Court Recognizes After 41 Years

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] A court ruling has determined that the state must also be responsible for compensating the psychological damages suffered by the victims of the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement. This comes 41 years after the May 18 incident occurred.

The Civil Division 11 of the Gwangju District Court (Presiding Judge Jeon Il-ho) on the 12th partially ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, ordering the state to pay compensation ranging from 40 million to 100 million KRW depending on the extent of the damages in a lawsuit filed by five individuals including Mr. Na against the state.

Mr. Na was arrested during the military’s forceful suppression of the former Jeonnam Provincial Office and was subjected to harsh treatment such as torture that prevented him from sleeping while being detained for 157 days.

Mr. Nam, who also filed the lawsuit, was taken by the military, detained for 217 days, and subjected to harsh treatment; he later died in December 2019 due to the aftereffects.

Mr. Lee was shot in the leg by the military during his participation in the democratization movement, then arrested and detained for 49 days, during which he endured harsh treatment. The other two plaintiffs experienced similar hardships.

Although they received compensation under the May 18 Compensation Act, they claimed that psychological damages were not compensated and had filed a request for a constitutional review of the law with the Constitutional Court.

The Constitutional Court ruled that the provision in the May 18 Compensation Act, which prevented claims for damages by stating that 'psychological pain' was not considered in government compensation, was unconstitutional.

The court also dismissed the defendant (government)’s argument that claims for consolation damages for psychological harm were unjustified since compensation had already been paid. It was reported that the court recognized the extensive illegal acts committed by the military before and after May 18 and judged that the state is responsible for compensating the psychological damages of the victims.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.