Handonghun "The state's duty is to care for people's livelihoods and resolve the public's grievances"
[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] The Ministry of Justice has decided to waive the delayed interest on the excess compensation payments to be received from the families of two victims of the 'People's Revolutionary Party (Inhyukdang) Reconstruction Committee Case.' This follows the decision made last month regarding victim Lee Chang-bok (84) of the Inhyukdang Reconstruction Committee case.
On the 14th, the Ministry of Justice announced that it has agreed to accept the court's conciliation recommendation to waive the excessive delayed damages (approximately twice the principal) that arose due to a change in precedent after provisional payments, on the condition of installment payments of the principal, in the claims for objection filed by the families of the late Jeon Jae-kwon’s daughter Jeon Young-soon and the late Jeong Man-jin’s wife Chu Guk-hyang, victims of the Inhyukdang Reconstruction Committee case.
The family of Jeong will be exempted from approximately 890 million KRW in delayed damages accrued so far if they pay the principal of about 450 million KRW in installments, and the family of Jeon will be exempted from approximately 370 million KRW in delayed damages accrued so far if they pay the principal of about 190 million KRW in installments.
The Ministry of Justice stated, "This decision, following the one made at the end of June regarding victim Lee Chang-bok of the Inhyukdang Reconstruction Committee case, is a responsible resolution to relieve the grievances of the people and to care for their livelihoods."
The Park Chung-hee government fabricated the National Democratic Youth Student Federation (Mincheonghakryeon) case in the 1970s to suppress democratization movements nationwide, then pointed to the Inhyukdang Reconstruction Committee as the mastermind behind it, putting related figures including Lee on trial.
In 1974, the court sentenced Lee and Jeon to 15 years in prison each, and Jeong to 20 years. Their rehabilitation began in September 2002 during the Kim Dae-jung administration when the Truth and Reconciliation Commission announced that the Inhyukdang Reconstruction Committee case involved torture and fabrication.
After being acquitted in a retrial in January 2008, they filed a damages lawsuit against the state and won, receiving partial provisional payments of compensation and delayed interest. However, in 2011, the Supreme Court changed the standard for calculating delayed damages in state compensation cases from the time of the illegal act to the conclusion of the fact-finding trial, creating an obligation to return the amount of delayed damages accrued between the illegal act and the conclusion of the fact-finding trial from the provisional compensation paid.
The previous government filed lawsuits in 2013 demanding the return of the excess compensation payments and even applied for compulsory execution against houses owned by the victims and their families.
Eventually, the delayed damages for Lee and others grew to exceed the principal amount. Lee and others filed claims for objection against the state, and the court recommended conciliation for the victims and their families to waive the delayed damages accrued so far if they pay the principal in installments.
Regarding this, the approving authority, the Ministry of Justice, held a meeting on June 20 under the direction of Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon, involving the supervising agency Seoul High Prosecutors' Office, the executing agency National Intelligence Service, and related organizations.
At that time, the National Intelligence Service, as the agency handling the lawsuit, actively expressed its acceptance of the conciliation recommendation by proactively reviewing the same issue that the previous government had failed to resolve, the Ministry of Justice reported.
The Ministry of Justice also considered comprehensively ▲ that requiring the return of not only the principal of the state compensation excessively paid due to unforeseeable precedent changes but also the high delayed interest could be harsh in light of the purpose of state compensation, justice, and common sense ▲ that under the State Claims Management Act, in cases of unjust enrichment without intentional or gross negligence by the debtor, it is possible to waive delayed damages if the principal amount is repaid ▲ the need to respect the court's ultimate efforts to resolve disputes ▲ and the results of the related agencies' meeting, and decided on the 4th of last month to accept the court's conciliation recommendation in Lee's case.
Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon explained the background, saying, "This Ministry of Justice's 'delayed interest waiver measure,' following the action taken for Mr. Lee in June, is an effort to fulfill the state's duty to look beyond political factions, care for the people's livelihoods, and relieve their grievances."
Minister Han added, "Even if there was no fault on the part of the state, it must have been a painful time for the affected citizens for a long time, and I believe it is a matter that can be resolved through responsible decisions. Furthermore, we also considered that the Ministry of Justice should demonstrate consistency and predictability to the public."
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