Forced Labor Case

[Anchor Lead]

Korean victims of forced unpaid labor during the Japanese colonial era have filed lawsuits requesting compensation, but a final ruling by the Supreme Court continues to be delayed. Here’s the latest in the case.

[Pkg]

Kim Ok-sun was taken to Japan in February 1945 when she was in 6th grade. She and 50 of her friends arrived at a munitions plant in Toyama, Japan. For 7 months until Korea gained independence from Japan, the girls worked at the factory making war supplies, but they didn't receive a dime for their labor.

[Soundbite] Kim Ok-sun(Japanese Colonial Era Forced Laborer) : "We had one rice ball and started working from around 8 a.m. Lunch was also a tiny portion, like a piece of bread."

In April last year, Kim filed a lawsuit against a Japanese firm demanding approximately 91,500 dollars in compensation. A total of 14 cases similar to Kim's have been pending in court since 2000, involving victims of colonial era forced labor. In 2012, the Supreme Court returned a case to a lower level court saying the ruling that found a Japanese firm not responsible for compensation was erroneous. The following year, the lower court ruled that the company must pay over 91-thousand dollars to each of the Korean victims. However, the Japanese firm appealed and the case went back to the Supreme Court, where a final decision has not been made for over 3 years.

[Soundbite] Kim Mi-gyeong(Lawyer) : "Trial dates are undetermined for some cases as they are awaiting a verdict from the Supreme Court."

During the delay, some 20 victims among the 1,100 who filed the compensation lawsuits have passed away.