Crime & Courts

S. Korea Finalizes Nachi-Fujikoshi Wartime Labor Rulings

Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
The South Korean Supreme Court

Jiji Press

16:43 JST, January 25, 2024

SEOUL/TOKYO (Jiji Press) — South Korea’s Supreme Court dismissed appeals Thursday by Nachi-Fujikoshi Corp. against lower court rulings that ordered the Tokyo-based machine tool maker to pay compensation for wartime labor.

The rulings thus became final in the three damages lawsuits, filed mainly by former laborers who claimed to have been forced to work for Nachi-Fujikoshi during World War II.

The top court ordered Nachi-Fujikoshi to pay 80 million won-100 million won in compensation per plaintiff, totaling 2.1 billion won, or ¥230 million.

Nachi-Fujikoshi received South Korean final rulings against the company on the wartime labor issue for the first time. The top court decision also raised the number of final rulings against Japanese companies over the issue to 12.