North Korean defectors of Japanese-Korean descent who escaped from North Korea’s forced detention are filing a damages lawsuit against the North Korean government at the Seoul Central District Court. This is the first time a civil lawsuit against North Korea has been filed in a domestic court.
The Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB) announced on the 13th, “We plan to file a petition on behalf of five defectors of Japanese-Korean descent who were forced to enter North Korea by mobilizing the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon) and falsely propagating it as a paradise on earth, and then forcibly detained them. The petition seeks compensation for the mental damage they suffered from antiautistic and inhuman crimes.”
According to the estimation of NKDB, by mobilizing Chongryon, North Korea made approximately 93,340 Japanese Koreans enter North Korea from 1959 to 1984. They were assigned to poor housing and jobs and were known to have suffered from forced labor in mines and farms.
NKDB explained the reason for filing a lawsuit in a domestic court: “The main responsible party for the forced migration of Japanese-Koreans is North Korea, and Chongryon and the Japanese government cannot escape from this responsibility. Furthermore, the South Korean government, which failed to fulfill its duty to protect Japanese Koreans at that time, cannot be said to be free of any responsibility.”
They added, “This lawsuit is to clarify the main responsibility of North Korea legally and to remind the duty of the South Korean government to protect its citizens, including the forced migrants of Japanese-Koreans.”
One of the plaintiffs, Lee Tae Kyung, representative of the Association of Forced Migrants of Japanese-Koreans, mentioned the background of the lawsuit, “We knew that there was some beautification and exaggeration at the time of the forced migration, but we were horrified by the stark difference from the paradise as soon as we arrived. We stand here now because we are afraid that when we die on this land, the things we experienced in North Korea will be buried with us.”
NKDB plans to submit a petition on the 15th morning, demanding approximately $85,000 per defector.
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