Lawsuit Excluding Kim Jong-un... War POWs Win but Compensation Faces Many Obstacles

Nearly 3 Years of Delayed Trials... 3 Korean War POWs Pass Away
"Unjustified Trial Refusal"... Partial Victory Ruling
Victory After 4 Years, Remaining Issue Is Debt Collection

South Korean prisoners of war (POWs) who were taken to North Korea during the Korean War and later defected have won a forced labor damages lawsuit against the North Korean authorities, but it is expected to be difficult for them to actually receive compensation. As a last-ditch effort to prevent trial delays, the defendant list was shortened two months before the ruling to exclude North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, resulting in a partial victory.

Kim Seong-tae, a South Korean POW, expressing his feelings after winning the trial against North Korea [Photo by Yonhap News]

According to the legal community on the 9th, Judge Shim Hak-sik of the Seoul Central District Court Civil Division 212 ruled the day before that the defendant, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea, represented by Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un), must pay 50 million won each to plaintiff South Korean POWs Kim Sung-tae (91), Yoo Young-bok, and the bereaved family of the late Lee Kyu-il in a damages lawsuit.

Immediately after the ruling, South Korean POW Kim Sung-tae said, "I returned to the homeland for a day as joyful and meaningful as today, but my parents and siblings have all passed away, so I could not meet them," adding, "I will continue to fight for the Republic of Korea until the day I die."

The Remaining Issue Is 'Collection of Compensation'... The Korea Foundation for Inter-Korean Economic & Cultural Cooperation Refuses to Pay North Korean Deposited Funds

Lim Jong-seok, Chairman of the Inter-Korean Economic and Cultural Cooperation Foundation. Chairman Lim served as the Chief of Staff to the President during the Moon Jae-in administration.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

However, based on past cases, it is expected to be difficult to collect damages from North Korea. Previously, in July 2020, the Seoul Central District Court ruled in favor of South Korean POW Han Jae-bok and another plaintiff in a damages lawsuit against North Korea and Kim Jong-un. Since the North did not appeal, the ruling was finalized.

At that time, the court issued a collection order to the Korea Foundation for Inter-Korean Economic & Cultural Cooperation (KIECC, Chairman Lim Jong-seok), which holds the copyright royalties payable to North Korea in court deposit, to pay the damages instead. However, KIECC refused, arguing that the money was to be paid to North Korean media such as Korean Central TV, not to the North Korean authorities.

KIECC appealed the collection order to the Seoul Eastern District Court, which ruled in favor of KIECC. The appeal trial is currently ongoing, but Han passed away in February this year at the age of 89. The North Korean copyright royalties deposited in court are known to exceed 2.3 billion won and began accumulating after inter-Korean financial transactions were suspended following the 2008 Park Wang-ja murder case. Originally, if the deposited funds were not claimed within 10 years, they would revert to the national treasury, but since 2019, when the statute of limitations on the deposit funds expired, KIECC has been preventing the funds from reverting to the treasury by reclaiming and redepositing them annually.

The South Korean POWs who won this lawsuit plan to pursue additional lawsuits to collect damages from KIECC. Jung Soo-han, Chairman of the Moolmangcho POW Repatriation Committee, said, "The elderly South Korean POWs did not seek compensation as their goal but wanted to hold North Korea accountable for the illegal detention and forced labor they endured for a long time and to restore their honor. It is fortunate that this wish has been fulfilled, albeit late," adding, "We will do our best in the appeal trial against KIECC as well."

‘Defendant Kim Jong-un’ Removed from Damages Lawsuit... Partial Victory Due to Trial Delays

Kim Seong-tae, a South Korean POW, expressing his feelings after winning the trial against North Korea [Photo by Yonhap News]

Initially, it was reported that this lawsuit was won against North Korea and Kim Jong-un, but at the time of the ruling, the defendant was only the "North Korean authorities." Legal representative for the South Korean POWs, lawyer Koo Choong-seo, told Asia Economy, "In the first lawsuit, we approached the case with the logic that the responsibility for the forced labor of South Korean POWs was inherited through the succession of North Korean power from Kim Il-sung to Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un," adding, "However, as the trial was delayed for a long time and there was no practical benefit, after much consideration, we partially withdrew the suit against Kim Jong-un at the end of February."

In fact, the court did not proceed with any procedures for 30 months. Since the defendant was North Korea, it was known that procedures such as public service of process took time, but the court only issued the public service of process order on February 22 of this year. Public service of process is a method where the court posts the lawsuit documents on a bulletin board or similar when delivery is impossible, and it is considered delivered.

Between the filing of the lawsuit and the public service of process, three of the five South Korean POW plaintiffs?Lee Won-sam, Yoo Young-bok, and Lee Kyu-il?passed away, and Lee Won-sam and Yoo Young-bok’s sides abandoned the suit. Until then, the South Korean POWs had requested the court three times to issue a public service of process order against North Korea and Kim Jong-un and requested five times to schedule trial dates, but the court did not provide any separate responses or reasons for the trial delays.

Three judges were replaced without any procedures being conducted, and the fourth judge in charge issued the favorable ruling the day before. Lawyer Koo said, "The five South Korean POWs defected between 2000 and 2001, before Kim Jong-un came to power," explaining, "Public service of process started late, and there were concerns that the trial might be further delayed by demands to prove Kim Jong-un’s responsibility (rather than Kim Il-sung or Kim Jong-il) or other procedural issues."

In the first lawsuit that triggered this case, the court recognized the responsibility of both North Korea and Kim Jong-un, but in the second lawsuit filed by Kim and others, Kim Jong-un’s responsibility was excluded. This means that even the symbolic victory condemning the illegal acts of North Korea and Kim Jong-un was only partial. Lawyer Koo, who served as a chief judge at the Seoul Central District Court, said, "I worked at the court for over 20 years, but I have never seen a trial like this," and claimed, "This is not a trial delay but a trial refusal."

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