Court Orders Sale of Mitsubishi's Domestic Assets...First Case Related to Forced Labor Victims

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] The court has issued its first domestic asset sale order against Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which has long ignored compensation for forced labor victims during the Japanese colonial period.

According to the legal community on the 27th, Chief Judge Kim Yong-chan of Civil Division 28 at Daejeon District Court accepted the application for a special cash conversion (sale) order of trademark and patent rights filed by forced labor victims grandmothers Yang Geum-deok (92) and Kim Seong-ju (92) against Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

This trial followed the Supreme Court’s First Division (Presiding Justice No Tae-ak) dismissal on the 10th of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ appeal against the seizure order of trademark and patent rights filed by grandmothers Yang Geum-deok and Kim Seong-ju.

The sale targets include two trademark rights (Yang Geum-deok) and two patent rights (Kim Seong-ju), with the amount secured through the sale estimated at approximately 209.7 million KRW per person (including interest and delayed damages). After the sale order, procedures such as appraisal, auction, payment of sale proceeds, and distribution can proceed.

This is the first time that a Korean court has issued an asset sale order against a Japanese company related to forced labor damages.

Previously, in November 2018, the Supreme Court finalized a ruling ordering Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to pay compensation to Korean victims and their families who were mobilized and forced to work during the Japanese colonial period. However, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries did not pay the compensation even after the Supreme Court’s final ruling, and the court decided on compulsory measures to seize two trademark rights and six patent rights of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Korea.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries filed an appeal earlier this year but the court dismissed it. The company then filed a retrial with the Supreme Court, which also dismissed the appeal, affirming the legitimacy of the asset seizure measures against Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.