Aging plaintiffs in case against Japan’s forced labor practices running out of time

Upon hearing the ruling of the appeals court for her trial against Mitsubishi Heavy Industries on Oct. 31, Kim Jae-rim, 88, a victim of forced migration and labor under the Japanese occupation, shares her thoughts and feelings while holding a sign that reads, “I’ve waited 73 years.” (provided by the Citizens in Support of the Korean Women’s Volunteer Labor Corps)

Korean Women’s Volunteer Labor Corps suit against Mitsubishi Heavy Industries still pending

“I don’t have a lot of days left to live. I hope my wish will be granted while I’m alive,” said Kim Jae-rim.

On the afternoon of Oct. 31, the 88-year-old woman was in room No. 204 at the Gwangju High Court. She is the plaintiff in an appeals case being tried by Hon. Choi In-gyu, head of the court’s second civil division.

Kim, who was taken to Japan to work in the Korean Women’s Volunteer Labor Corps, has sued Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for compensation. In Feb. 2014, Kim was one of four members of the labor corps and surviving family members who brought a lawsuit against the company for secondary damages. There is particular interest in this trial since it’s the first appeals case to be tried since South Korea’s Supreme Court recognized that victims of compulsory mobilization during Japan’s colonial rule over Korea have the right to claim damages and compensation against Japanese companies.

In 1944 and 1945, the Japanese empire used force to mobilize young women in their early and mid-teens and send them to munitions factories. Toward the end of May 1944, Kim went to Japan on the understanding that she would be sent to a girls’ school but was instead forced to work at an aircraft production factory in Nagoya operated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries until the end of Oct. 1945, without receiving a cent for her work.

Members of an NGO that supports the lawsuits by members of the Korean Women’s Volunteer Labor Corps holds a press conference outside the Gwangju District Court. (provided by Citizens in Support of the Korean Women’s Volunteer Labor Corps)

Kim was lucky enough to be rescued from the rubble of a building that collapsed in a big earthquake in Dec. 1944, but searchers never found the body of her cousin, who had been fleeing the earthquake with her. After returning to Korea without receiving any wages, Kim got married and had a son and daughter before losing her husband. Her life since then has been full of challenges.

Women who served in the labor corps have filed three damages lawsuits against Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in the Gwangju District Court since Oct. 2012. Yang Geum-deok, 89, and four other women won the first lawsuit in the district court and on appeal, but their case has been pending at the full bench of the Supreme Court since July 2015. There are suspicions that this case was deliberately delayed by the judiciary under former Supreme Court Justice Yang Seung-tae. The second lawsuit, filed by Kim, prevailed in a district court in Aug. 2017, as did the third lawsuit, filed by Kim Yeong-ok, 86, and a close relative of a labor corps member, but Mitsubishi Heavy Industries refused to accept the verdict and has appealed.

Yang Geum-deok, 89, who filed the first case for damages and reparations against Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for practices of forced labor in October 2012, holds a press conference on Oct. 31. (provided by Citizens in Support of the Korean Women’s Volunteer Labor Corps)

Importance of swift decisions in face of plaintiffs’ advanced age

Noting that a similar case is currently pending at the Supreme Court, a lawyer from Mitsubishi who was present at the hearing asked the court to wait for the results of that trial before delivering a verdict. But an attorney for the plaintiffs pointed out that the point in contention in this case is identical to the case on which the Supreme Court ruled on Oct. 30 and argued that the verdict should not be delayed in consideration of the advanced age of the plaintiffs. After the arguments were concluded, the court scheduled the sentencing for Dec. 5, in deference to the wishes of the plaintiffs, even though a date after the middle of December had initially been discussed.

Following the trial, an NGO that is supporting the lawsuits by members of the Korean Women’s Volunteer Labor Corps held a press conference in front of the entrance to the Gwangju District Court.

“We welcome the fact that the full bench of the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs on Oct. 30 in the second appeal of the lawsuit against Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Co., a company that committed war crimes during the Japanese colonial period. Considering that the plaintiffs are around ninety years old, the companies that committed war crimes should hurry up and apologize to the plaintiffs to resolve this issue,” the group said.

By Jung Dae-ha, Gwangju correspondent

Please direct comments or questions to [[e-mail]]