South Korean court finalises US$1 million compensation to man abducted from North 67 years earlier
- The Seoul High Court ruled that the state must pay damages to Kim Joo-sam for its violation of the plaintiff’s ‘fundamental human rights’
- Kim, now 86, was abducted by South Korean spies in 1956 and detained by the military for five years, working without pay
The Seoul High Court ruled that the state must pay Kim Joo-sam, 86, 1.3 billion won (US$1 million) in damages, defining him as a victim of the “abduction” by South Korean spies.
“Mr Kim was separated from his family due to the state’s act of abduction. It caused him indescribable sufferings, including [an] extreme sense of loneliness,” the court said in a statement. “To this day, more than 67 years later, Mr Kim does not know whether his family members are alive or dead. This suffering is of a nature that cannot be cured in a lifetime.”
“The defendant, the state, has blatantly disregarded these obligations and has instead violated the fundamental human rights of the plaintiff, an individual, through the gross and flagrantly unlawful acts of abduction and detention, leaving him with scars that will be difficult to heal for the rest of his life.”
Kim welcomed the ruling and said the compensation was “better late than never”.
“We have a little debt we can pay off when the money comes in. I’ll also help my kids out with their debt. Then there are some folks who have put themselves out for me – people who occasionally bought me lunch or a carton of cigarettes. I need to make it up to them,” Kim told the independent Hankyoreh daily.