Yang Geum-deok and Kim Seong-joo, survivors of the Mitsubishi Volunteer Labor Corps during the Japanese colonial period, made it official that they would not accept the government’s proposal for ‘third-party reimbursement’ for victims of forced labor during the Japanese occupation.
On the 13th, the litigation attorney in charge of the Mitsubishi Labor Volunteer Corps lawsuit said, “We do not allow third-party reimbursement in relation to the solatium claims for forced labor finalized by the Supreme Court in 2018.” We sent a proof of contents, saying, ‘Please do not reimburse the victims against their will’.”
Article 469, paragraph 1 of the Civil Act stipulates that ‘debt repayment may be made by a third party. However, this is not the case when payment by a third party is not permitted due to the nature of the debt or the expression of intention of the parties.’
In the proof of contents, the agent said, “The claim that the client has against Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. according to the final judgment is ‘on the premise of the Japanese company’s inhumane illegal acts directly related to the Japanese government’s illegal colonial rule on the Korean Peninsula and the conduct of the war of aggression. It is an exercise of the right to claim compensation for compensation from a Japanese company by a victim of forced labor,” he said.
Yang Geum-deok and Kim Seong-ju were mobilized to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Nagoya Aircraft Factory at the end of May 1944, when they were in their early and mid-teens, and suffered forced labor without a penny for 17 months until they returned home at the end of October 1945. She also suffered major and minor injuries to her ankles and back as she was buried with the factory building collapsed during the Tonankai earthquake on December 7, 1944.
In October 2012, some of the victims and five bereaved families who participated in the lawsuit in Japan filed a lawsuit against Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. in the Gwangju District Court, and the Supreme Court won the case on November 29, 2018 (decision 2015da45420).
However, while Mitsubishi refused to pay compensation, three plaintiffs (Kim Joong-gon, Lee Dong-ryun, and Park Hae-ok) died one after another, and only two survivors were Yang Geum-deok and Kim Seong-ju.
Grandpa Lee Chun-shik, the only surviving victim among the four plaintiffs who filed a lawsuit against Nippon Steel, also sent a certificate of contents to the same effect to the support for victims of forced labor under the Japanese colonial rule through a lawsuit agent on the same day.
At 10:30 a.m. on the same day, the agent plans to personally visit the Foundation for Supporting Victims of Forced Mobilization by Japan and deliver a clear expression of intention by the three survivors of forced labor: Yang Geum-deok, Kim Seong-ju, and Lee Chun-sik, saying, “We will not allow a third party to repay.”
(Gwangju = News 1)
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.