Nishimatsu Construction Ordered to Pay Wartime Labor Compensation

Seoul, Sept. 5 (Jiji Press)--The Seoul High Court on Thursday overturned a lower court ruling and ordered Japan’s Nishimatsu Construction Co. to pay compensation to South Korean plaintiffs over wartime labor.

The Japanese company was ordered to pay a total of about 73 million won, or about 7.8 million yen, to five plaintiffs.

The plaintiffs launched the lawsuit in 2019, but the Seoul Central District Court dismissed it in February 2023, citing the statute of limitations.

However, the high court ruled that the statute of limitations had not expired for three years after the South Korean Supreme Court in 2018 finalized the first ruling ordering a Japanese company to pay compensation for wartime labor.

Nishimatsu Construction will respond after closely examining the high court ruling, a company official said, adding that the company believes the wartime labor issue has been resolved by a 1965 agreement between Japan and South Korea.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]