(LEAD) Ex-Korean Japanese who escaped from N. Korea win damages suit against Pyongyang

(ATTN: UPDATES with more info in last 4 paras)

SEOUL, Sept. 12 (Yonhap) — Former Korean Japanese people who defected from North Korea after migrating to the North under the communist state’s repatriation program decades ago won a damages suit filed in Seoul against Pyongyang.

The Seoul Central District Court on Thursday ordered the North Korean government to pay 100 million won (US$74,700) each to five defectors who claimed they relocated to the North after being deceived by its regime propaganda program.

The five plaintiffs are part of some 93,000 Korean Japanese people who migrated from Japan to North Korea between 1959 and 1984 under the North’s repatriation program. They were forcibly assigned homes and jobs in North Korea before suffering forced labor and human rights violations.

The five launched the lawsuit in March, saying they entered the North after being enticed by its “paradise on Earth” propaganda but were detained and suffered psychological damage.

As Pyongyang did not respond to the lawsuit, however, the court hearing has proceeded through the “conveyance by public announcement” system, in which litigation documents are published on the court bulletin board or the official gazette.

The Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB), a nonprofit organization that supported the plaintiffs, welcomed the court’s ruling.

“We sincerely hope that this ruling sheds light on the human rights abuses suffered by Korean Japanese repatriates in North Korea and provides even a small measure of comfort to the victims,” the NKDB said in a press release.

As with previous civil cases filed against North Korea, it is expected that Pyongyang will not appeal the ruling. Therefore, the decision in favor of the plaintiffs is likely to be finalized.

However, as North Korea is not expected to comply with the compensation order, the victims are contemplating further legal action against a South Korean organization that manages funds intended for North Korea over the use of North Korea’s copyrights in South Korea.