[8th Unification Law Academic Forum➁] North Korea’s Lawsuit Against the United States, What Can We Do?
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ORIGINAL LINK : https://blog.naver.com/PostView.naver?blogId=gounikorea&logNo=223299152949
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△The 8th Unification Legal Forum Poster (ⓒ(사)통일법정책연구회){vi50} {vi59}
Hello, I am reporter Seo Min-jun, delivering a wide range of valuable and comprehensive issues related to unification and North Korea. In the last article, I delivered about the 1st session of the 8th Unification Legal Forum, “Ownership and control structure of North Korean enterprises and restructuring after unification” and “Trends in North Korean health care legislation”. In this article, I will deliver the 2nd session “The possibility of litigation between the authorities of the Republic of Korea and North Korea” and a forum on related issues. I, reporter Seo Min-jun, interviewed the voices at the scene.
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2nd Session <대한민국의 북한 당국에 대한 소송가능성과 제문제>
△Attorney An Sung-chan, who was in charge of the 2nd session (ⓒSeo Min-jun reporter), and attorney Kim Min-jung, who is presenting the proposal (ⓒThird from the right, Seo Min-jun reporter){vi111} {vi120}
The first order of the 2nd session was a proposal by attorney Kim Min-jung <대한민국의 북한 당국에 대한 소송 가능성과 제문제>. Lawsuits involving South and North Korea take various forms. This order will discuss legal issues related to lawsuits where South Korean citizens sue North Korean authorities for damages, and plans for victim recovery lawsuits. Let’s first look at representative lawsuit cases between South Korean citizens and North Korean authorities.
△Mr. Han Jae-bok, wearing a gray suit, holding a press conference for the victory of the damage claim on July 7, 2020, and Park Sun-young, director of Forget-me-not, wearing a green jacket, and the legal team (ⓒNews1/Central Daily){vi149} {vi158}
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1. Forced labor damage compensation lawsuit of 6.25 military prisoners of war (Seoul Central District Court July 7, 2020. Judgment 2016Gadan5235506 judgment, confirmed victory)
Plaintiff Han Jae-bok was captured as a prisoner of war by the Chinese army in Hoiyang, Gangwon-do on December 29, 1951, and was forced to work in a detention center. He defected in August 2001 and settled in Korea. Later, he filed a damage compensation lawsuit against North Korea and ‘Kim Jong-un’, and won in July 2020.
2. Damage compensation claim lawsuit of the descendants of the kidnapped policeman (Seoul Central District Court March 5, 2021. Judgment 2020Gadan5306603 judgment, confirmed victory)
Choi ◯◯, the daughter of a policeman who was kidnapped while working in Daegu during the Korean War, filed a lawsuit against North Korea and Kim Jong-un for mental anguish, claiming 50 million won in consolation money, despite the armistice agreement, her father was not repatriated to the south. She won in March 2021.
3. Damage compensation claim lawsuit of the descendants of kidnapped civilians (Seoul Central District Court May 20, 2022. Judgment 2020Gahap28004 judgment confirmed victory)
The descendants of people like Jung In-bo, who were kidnapped during the Korean War, filed a lawsuit for damages against North Korea and Kim Jong-un and received a victory judgment in 2022.
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In fact, lawsuits between North Korean authorities and Korea, like the above examples, often end without North Korea directly participating in the lawsuit and win without argument. This is the same for lawsuits between North Korean authorities and foreign countries, not just Korea. However, even if you win, there is a great difficulty in receiving compensation. Especially in the case of prisoners of war or abductees during the 6.25 war, most of the plaintiffs are over 90 years old, and many have already passed away, so even though they have a claim for damages from the North Korean authorities, they cannot execute it, so a solution must be sought. Attorney Kim Min-jung mentioned the Otto Warmbier case as a solution example. Otto Warmbier case.
Issue 1. How were lawsuits with North Korea resolved in foreign authorities?
△The scene of a press conference by Otto Warmbier’s parents at a ‘Joint Press Conference for Abduction, Detention Victims’ held at Koreana Hotel on November 21, 2019 (ⓒOh Jong-chan reporter/Chosun Ilbo)
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Otto Warmbier was sentenced to 15 years of labor reform by the North Korean Supreme Court in 2016 for tearing off propaganda materials of the Kim Jong-il regime at a North Korean hotel. Eventually, in June 2017, he was released from detention in a vegetative state, but died shortly after returning to the United States. Otto Warmbier’s parents, outraged, filed a damage compensation lawsuit against North Korea in a U.S. federal court in 2018. Here, the U.S. federal court raised several legally important issues.
1. According to the exception clause related to terrorism, in the case of a country hostile to the United States indirect evidence and expert evidence are adopted in court through relaxed evidence rules