The abductee who beat Kim Jong-un’s hand bail… “Instead of Lim Jong-seok’s Kyungmunhyup

The descendants of abductees who were taken to North Korea during the Korean War won a lawsuit for damages filed against North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. In the case of kidnapping civilians during the war following prisoners of war last year, the court recognized North Korea’s illegal activities.

On the 25th, judge Kim Young-soo, who was solely responsible for the civil affairs of the Seoul Central District Court, ruled on the 25th that the son of the abductee, Choi Mo, filed a 50 million won damages lawsuit against the DPRK and Chairman Kim. . It is a full quotation of the alimony requested by his son, Choi.

The judiciary also said, “Pay 5% a year from October 1, 1950 to January 27, 2021, when the abductee Choi disappeared, and 12% delayed interest thereafter.” It is said that the North should pay a total of more than 200 million won worth of alimony if the delayed interest for over 70 years is added. However, the court did not elaborate on the reasons for the judgment.

With the ruling on that day, the court also accepted North Korea’s illegal acts against civilian abductees following the South Korean prisoners of war. In July of last year, a hand bailout filed by Han Jae-bok and No Sa-hong, who were prisoners of war in the Korean War, against Kim Kim, was judged in favor of the plaintiffs by 21 million won each. The Seoul Central District Law stated that “North Korea cannot be viewed as a state due to the constitutional system, so it is possible to exercise the jurisdiction of the Republic of Korea, and illegal acts of North Korea are also recognized.”

In addition to Choi, there is a case in which 13 descendants, including historian In-bo Widang, lawyer Hong Jae-ki, and reporter Lee Gil-yong, Dong-A Ilbo, have filed a separate case for 340 million won.

The fact that Choi’s request for 50 million won was quoted in full means that the court took the abduction victims seriously.

At the trial, the lawyers argued that “North Korea’s abduction is a crime against humanity that is classified as a forced disappearance under the Roman Regulations on the International Criminal Court,” and “it also corresponds to illegal acts under our civil law (Article 750).”

Kim Tae-hoon, executive representative of the Korean Peninsula Human Rights and Unification Lawyers’ Association (Hanbyun), said, “In order to pay Mr. Choi’s alimony, bonds are collected for copyright fees held by the Foundation for Economic and Cultural Cooperation (Kyungmoon), which can be viewed as North Korean bonds in Korea. Will proceed.” The Kyungmunhyup is a foundation with former president Lim Jong-seok, chief of staff, as the representative director.

Previously, the Korean POW plaintiffs who won in July of last year have already filed a lawsuit against the Gyeongmun Association for a collection of 8,599 million won in the Seoul East District Law, which is under the jurisdiction of the Gyeongmun Association. Although the Seoul Central District Court ordered the Gyeongmun Association to seize and collect bonds in accordance with the victim’s prevailing judgment, the Gyeongmun Association filed a lawsuit again when the Gyeongmun Association did not give money.

In the seizure decision of the Seoul Central District Court in August last year, the debtor was written as “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Representative Director Kim Jong-un,” and the third debtor was “Kyung Moon Hyup and CEO Lim Jong-seok”.

The court ordered that “North Korea and Chairman Kim seize approximately 195.2 million won worth of bonds that should be received from the Gyeongmun Association, and the Gyeongmun Association should not make payments to Chairman Kim.” It is said that the foreclosure target of 192.52 million won is the royalties collected by the Korean media outlets using North Korean works such as Chosun Joong-Ang TV in Korea during 2017 alone.

According to the court and lawyers, the Kyungmoon Association signed a copyright agreement with the North Korean government’s copyright office in December 2005 to receive a copyright fee for the Joseon Central TV video used in South Korea. Under the permission of the Ministry of Unification, copyright fees were exchanged for dollars, etc. from 2005 to 2008 and remitted to the North.

Then, in July 2008, when Prince Park was attacked at Mt. Geumgang, inter-Korean relations were severed, and remittance was stopped due to the implementation of sanctions against North Korea in May 24. Accordingly, it is said that the Kyungmun Hyup has deposited copyright fees with the court.

The victims of abduction have demanded that “the North Korean assets, which are accumulating deposits, should be paid to the victims every year.” However, the Gyeongmun Cooperative side said, “It is not a claim to be paid to the North Korean government, but to the parties such as Chosun Central TV, so it is not subject to collection.”

Reporters Yoo-jung Lee and Su-jeong Lee [email protected]