Forced labour a sore topic between South Korea and Japan as court verdict looms
- Since 2012, there have been flurry of lawsuits seeking to overturn historical legal decisions favouring Japanese firms who used conscripted workers
- But experts say wrangling in courts may be a setback for reconciliation efforts
Nearly 150,000 Koreans were conscripted to help the Japanese war effort by working in factories and mines in Japan. South Korea says 5,000 victims of these wartime forced labourers are still alive.
The November verdict will be on an appeal to a 2013 High Court ruling ordering Mitsubishi to pay 80 million won (US$71,000) to each of the five plaintiffs who claim they were exposed to radiation from the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima while conscripted as forced labourers.
In 2012, South Korea’s Supreme Court began overturning High Court decisions in favour of Japanese corporations.
“Korean courts are giving plaintiffs a second chance by presiding over lawsuits, many of which were already adjudicated in Japan,” said Timothy Webster, associate professor of transnational law at Case Western Reserve University. Webster said the court’s decision in the Nippon Steel case suggested Korean plaintiffs were more likely to win their lawsuits on home turf.