In October 2018, the Supreme Court of Korea ordered a Japanese company to pay four Korean men ₩100 million each as compensation for the damages from forced labor during World War II. In the next month, the Supreme Court ordered another Japanese company to provide compensation for the same kind of damages. They are called “Cho-yo-ko [forced laborers] Judgments” in Japan. These judgments have caused the Japanese Government to impose severe diplomatic actions upon Korea, i.e., restrictions of exports from Japan. Thereupon, the Government of Korea has carried out counter diplomatic policies toward Japan. As a result, it is said that the relationship between Japan and Korea has been the worst it has ever been since World War II.
This paper deals with the “Cho-yo-ko Judgments,” which have given rise to this situation. In particular, it examines the Supreme Court judgment in October 2018 and the lower judgments on the case in which the defendant was Nippon Steel Co., because this case has often been reported on by the media and was considered one of the most famous in Japan.
First, after giving the outline of this case, the paper introduces the judgments of the case that were delivered in Japan. Originally, two Korean men among the above plaintiffs brought a case forth in Japan against Nippon Steel Co. and the Japanese Government, but the case was dismissed. After that, the plaintiffs, in which two other Korean men joined in, brought a case forth in Korea against Nippon Steel Co. Although the trial court and the appellate court decided against the plaintiff on the grounds that the Japanese judgment should be recognized under the Korean Civil Procedure Act, in 2012 the Supreme Court overturned the lower court’s decision and sent the case back to Seoul High Court. The Supreme Court refused to recognize the Japanese judgments because of the order public of Korea and continuously held that the individual claims of the Korean men were not settled by the Agreement on the Settlement of Problems concerning Property and Claims and on Economic Co-operation between Japan and the Republic of Korea. Seoul High Court, which the case was remanded back to, ordered the defendant to pay compensation to plaintiffs in 2013. Finally, the Supreme Court confirmed the High Court judgment in 2018.
This paper also deals with Korean judgments. Since there are many legal issues arising in the fields of Public International Law, Private International Law, Constitutional Law, Civil Law, and Commercial Law, it examines some of these legal issues and how the judgments affected the relationship between Japan and Korea.
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