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Forced labor victim Lee Chun-myeon shares her thought after winning her lawsuit against Nachi-Fujikoshi in Seoul Central District Court on Jan. 23. (Baek So-ah

“The Japanese government needs to reflect on its actions. It shouldn’t be so unprincipled. It needs to repent for its past mistakes, show remorse and ask for forgiveness. It can’t just ignore us,” said Lee Chun-myeon, 87, who was drafted as a forced laborer for Nachi-Fujikoshi, a Japanese company that committed war crimes during World War II. Lee was responding to Japanese reporters who asked her on Jan. 23 what she wanted to say to the Japanese government, which had instructed the company not to pay compensation. Lee also urged the South Korean government to thoroughly investigate how Japan had treated members of the Korean Women’s Volunteer Labor Corps.

On Wednesday, the 11th civil appeals division at Seoul Central District Court, under Hon. Park Mi-ri, upheld a lower court’s decision in Lee’s damages lawsuit against Nachi-Fujikoshi and ordered the company to pay Lee 100 million won (US$88,685). Lee filed her lawsuit in May 2015, asking to be compensated for the mental, physical and economic damage caused by the company’s crimes against humanity, including forced labor. In Mar. 2017, a district court ordered that she receive some of the requested damages, but the appeal moved forward slowly. It wasn’t until the Supreme Court conclusively ruled in Oct. 2018 that victims of forced labor during Japan’ colonial occupation are owed compensation that Lee’s appeal picked up speed.

After the appeals court issued its verdict, Lee emerged from the courthouse in a wheelchair and met reporters. “I volunteered for the Korean Women’s Volunteer Labor Corps because I believed my Japanese school principal when he told me that if I went to Japan I could go to middle school and even university. I had to do between ten and twelve hours of forced labor every day at the Fujikoshi factory. Some of the workers starved to death and others lost their minds and called for their mothers and fathers as they lay dying,” Lee said, dredging up painful memories.

Nachi-Fujikoshi has reportedly rejected the ruling and plans to appeal the case.

By Jang Yee-ji, staff reporter

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