▲ In this file photo, Kim Seong-tae, a former South Korean prisoner of war, speaks to reporters at the Seoul Central District Court in the capital on May 8, 2023, after winning a damages suit against North Korea and its leader Kim Jong-un. (Yonhap)

ex-POWs-lawsuit

Ex-POWs sue N. Korea over forced labor; 3rd of its kind

SEOUL, April 29 (Yonhap) -- Five former South Korean prisoners of war (POWs) have filed a compensation lawsuit against North Korea and its leader Kim Jong-un at a Seoul court, seeking damages for forced labor.

According to the Korean POW Families Association on Wednesday, the five war survivors -- Ko Kwang-myun, 95; Kim Jong-su, 95; Lee Sun-woo, 96; Lee Dae-bong, 95; and Choi Ki-ho, 98 -- have recently filed the suit with the Seoul Central District Court, each demanding 21 million won (US$14,200) in compensation.

The plaintiffs claimed they were forced to work in mines in North Korea even after the 1953 truce that halted the Korean War, before defecting to the South in the early 2000s.

The case marked the third of its kind following two similar lawsuits filed in 2020 and 2023 by two and three former POWs, respectively.

Currently, only six former POWs, including the five plaintiffs, remain alive in South Korea. In February, they issued a joint statement calling for the establishment of a truth commission on South Korean POWs and the designation of an official remembrance day, marking the 12th anniversary of the publication of the U.N. Commission of Inquiry report on human rights in North Korea.

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