South Korean family of wartime labor victim receives compensation from Japanese company

By Anadolu staff

The family of a South Korean victim of wartime forced labor received compensation from a Japanese company on Tuesday -- the first case to receive redress from a Japanese firm, according to media reports.

Hitachi Zosen Corp deposited 60 million won ($44,830) in a local court last year after South Korean courts ordered it to pay compensation to the family, Seoul-based Yonhap News reported.

"This is the first time that money voluntarily paid by a Japanese company has been delivered to a victim of forced labor," the agency quoted an unnamed lawyer for the family.

It came after the South Korean top court upheld a ruling of a lower court and ordered the Japanese company to compensate victim families.

In December, the Supreme Court upheld two separate appellate rulings that ordered Mitsubishi and Hitachi to pay each victim between 50 million won and 150 million won.

Surviving victims and families of late victims filed cases in 2012 and 2015 against Japanese companies, demanding compensation.

Japan had lodged a “strong protest” with South Korea after a court in Seoul asked Tokyo to compensate wartime comfort women.

Tokyo considers the issue resolved.

Seoul and Tokyo agreed eight years ago to “finally and irreversibly” resolve the wartime sex slave issue.

Japan apologized for its colonial-era excesses and agreed to contribute 1 billion yen to a foundation that supports victims.

But Seoul said last March that it would compensate Korean victims on its own without asking for contributions from Japanese companies.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid