In an appeal involving a lawsuit brought by 5 South Korean victims of wartime forced labor against Mitsubishi Materials, the Seoul Central District Court ordered the company to pay approximately 99 million won in total to the 5 plaintiffs. It upheld the first-instance ruling.
In the appeal of a damages lawsuit brought by 5 forced-labor victims, the Seoul Central District Court ordered Mitsubishi Materials to pay approximately 99 million won in total to the 5 plaintiffs. Approximately 27 million won was awarded to 1 plaintiff and approximately 18 million won each to the other 4 plaintiffs.
The ruling is expected to follow precedents in similar lawsuits, with Supreme Court decisions from 2018 and 2023 cited as references. The Supreme Court recognized the right to seek damages in a 2012 lawsuit and interpreted the ruling as establishing the statute-of-limitations standard, finding that there had been no obstacle to exercising the right since the 2018 ruling.
As a result, some observers believe it has become more difficult for Japanese companies to have their argument accepted that the statute of limitations had expired and they therefore had no liability to pay damages.