"4.5 Billion Won National Compensation for Hyeongjebokjiwon Victims...First Recognition in Appeal Trial"

‘Busan Hyeongjebokjiwon Victims’ Win Again in Second Trial’

As first-instance rulings recognizing the state's liability for compensation to victims of the Busan Hyeongjebokjiwon case continue, on the 7th, the appellate court also made a judgment for the first time that the state must compensate.

The Civil Division 33 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judge Kim Dae-woong, Judges Hwang Seong-mi and Heo Ik-su) dismissed the appeals of both the plaintiff and the defendant in the damages lawsuit filed by Kim Mo and 12 others against the state, maintaining the first-instance ruling that partially ruled in favor of the plaintiffs.

'Human Rights Violations' Brotherly Love Welfare Center Inmates 126 Personal Record Cards First Released. [Image Source = Yonhap News]

Earlier, on December 21 of last year, the court recognized for the first time the state's liability for compensation to the Hyeongjebokjiwon victims, ordering the state to pay the plaintiffs 80 million won per year of detention. Since then, first-instance rulings applying the standard of '80 million won per year' have continued.

The Hyeongjebokjiwon case involves the forced confinement by public authorities such as the police from 1975 to 1987 of homeless people, the disabled, orphans, and others without family ties, who were designated as vagrants, in the Busan Hyeongjebokjiwon, a private social welfare institution. It is understood that there are more than 30 nationwide lawsuits filed by victims of the Hyeongjebokjiwon case seeking state compensation.