Tokyo Court Orders N. Korea to Pay Damages over Repatriation Program
Tokyo District Court on Monday (January 26) ordered the North Korean government to pay 88 million yen in compensation to a total of four North Korean defectors and bereaved relatives in Japan over its alleged human rights abuses linked to the country's repatriation program decades ago.
The ruling compares with the plaintiffs' demand for a total of 400 million yen in damages from the North Korean government.
The plaintiffs claimed that defectors were not allowed to leave North Korea after moving there as part of the repatriation program, in which Pyongyang advertised the country as "heaven on earth" where necessities such as clothing, food and shelter were guaranteed.
At the Tokyo court, Presiding Judge Taiichi Kamino recognised the case as continued unlawful acts by the North Korean government against the plaintiffs. "It's not an exaggeration to say that they were deprived of most of their lives," Kamino said.
The judge acknowledged that those who moved to North Korea had no choice but to live under harsh conditions for a long time, as Pyongyang did not allow them to leave the country freely.
It is unusual for a Japanese court to recognise illegal acts by foreign governments and order them to pay compensation. The North Korean side did not appear in court.
While the ruling will be finalised if no appeal is filed, it remains uncertain whether compensation can be collected from the North Korean government.
According to the ruling, the defectors moved to North Korea between 1960 and 1972 and then escaped from the country between 2001 and 2003. In 2018, they filed a lawsuit on the matter.
In 2022, the district court initially dismissed the lawsuit, stating that the right to seek compensation had expired because more than 20 years had passed since the defectors left Japan for North Korea. It also ruled that Japanese courts had no jurisdiction over Pyongyang's refusal to allow them to leave the country.
In 2023, however, the Tokyo High Court sent the case back to the district court, recognising that the acts constituted ongoing unlawful conduct and fell within the jurisdiction of Japanese courts.
Eiko Kawasaki, 83, one of the plaintiffs, attended a press conference in Tokyo after Monday's ruling. "I'm overwhelmed with emotion," she said. "We hope the Japanese government will take action to confirm the status of our families in North Korea."
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
