COURT RULES N. KOREA TO COMPENSATE EX-POWS

[Anchor Lead]

A court has ruled that the North Korean regime and its leader Kim Jung-un must pay damages to former prisoner of war who were subjected to physical labor in the North and later escaped. It's the first court order regarding North Korea's liability to compensate victims, and more similar lawsuits will likely follow.

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These two men were taken prisoner by the North Korean army during the Korean War. They were subjected to harsh physical labor at a North Korean mine for nearly half a century, before finally escaping at the age of 70. The two men filed a suit against North Korea and its leader, Kim Jong-un, to demand compensation for physical and mental suffering. After a three-year-and-nine-month trial through the conveyance by public announcement, a South Korean court has ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. The judges have recognized the total amount of damages given the period of forced labor, its intensity and the plaintiffs' endured pain. The court has ordered the North Korean regime and its leader to pay 21 million won to each of the plaintiffs.

[Soundbite] KOO CHUNG-SEO(ATTORNEY) : "This verdict paves the way for South Korean courts to exercise within their jurisdiction and issue rulings against the illegal acts of the DPRK and its leader Kim Jong-un."

However, receiving the compensation in reality will likely be unfeasible. The attorneys plan to push for obtaining the compensation by seizing the court's deposit money. As North Korea cannot wire money due to sanctions, the attorneys plan to confiscate bonds for the copyright fees that was to be paid to North Korea's Central Television. The attorneys added they will also proceed with lawsuits filed by the remaining 21 POWs in South Korea.

[Soundbite] (FORMER POW WHO ESCAPED FROM N. KOREA) : "The political circles are not interested in the issue of POWs. It's very upsetting."

The former POWs are urging the government to help bring back hundreds of prisoners of war still detained in the North.