No compensation due to technicality
The Seoul Eastern District Court on Friday dismissed an appeal by former prisoners-of-war (POWs) who asked the Foundation of Inter-Korea Cooperation for compensation on behalf of the North Korean government.
The two former POWs surnamed Han and Nah sued the North Korean government and its dictator Kim Jong-un. They were awarded 21 million won ($17,676) each for labor they performed in captivity. The two POWs escaped North Korea between 2000 and 2001, nearly a half-century after their capture during the Korean War. This was the first court ruling acknowledging that a South Korean court has jurisdiction over North Korea and its leader Kim Jong-un.
However, as it was nearly impossible to make North Korea pay the POWs, they filed another lawsuit to have the Foundation of Inter-Korea Cooperation compensate them instead. Since 2005, the foundation has collected royalties from South Korean companies using copyrighted North Korean materials. The foundation, which collects royalties on behalf of the North Korean state television service KCTV, is managed by Im Jong-seok, the former chief of staff to South Korean President Moon Jae-in and a notorious student activist during the 1980s.
Judge Song Seung-yong from the Seoul Eastern District Court argued that there cannot be an obligation to seize such compensation from North Korea. “We cannot consider North Korea as an independent country that is similar to us,” Song said.
The court also argued that under Article 3 of the South Korean Constitution, the entire Korean peninsula is South Korean territory and that North Korea’s product copyrights are protected as South Korean products.
The court said that the foundation and North Korea’s copyright management office were middlemen that only had the role of delivering products to South Korean customers. The court argued that this is why the foundation is not obligated to pay on behalf of the North Korean government.
Dream Makers for North Korea, a South Korean civic group working on North Korean human rights issues that helped the POWs with their lawsuits, released a statement right after the court ruling calling it “sophistry.”
Eom Tae-sup, the POWs’ lawyer, said the KCTV copyrights are obviously controlled by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and that Pyongyang’s copyright management office should technically be representing the Kim regime. Eom argued that it cannot understand the court’s ruling considering the copyright management office as just a middleman. The legal team added that it will review the final ruling after obtaining the full text and consider appealing.
The Foundation of Inter-Korea Cooperation is a nonprofit organization established in 2004 to facilitate inter-Korean exchanges. In 2005, the foundation signed a contract with the North Korean cabinet dealing with copyright issues and collected royalties from the South Korean media using North Korean publications and video materials.
Major South Korean broadcasting companies, including state-run KBS, paid about 30 million won ($25,252) in royalties to the foundation. The foundation received nearly 790 million won ($664,983) from 2005 to 2007, and sent it to North Korea in U.S. dollars after receiving approval from the South Korean Ministry of Unification.
The foundation has been barred from transferring money to North Korea since 2008 after Seoul imposed a new set of sanctions after a North Korean soldier shot and killed a 53-year-old tourist at the North’s Mount Kumgang. From May 2009 to the end of last year, the foundation deposited about 2.09 billion won ($1.76 million) under court administration.
Meanwhile, Im Jong-seok, who served as chief of staff to Moon from 2017 to 2019 and has been quiet since his resignation, appears to be taking an important role ahead of the presidential election in March. The presidential Blue House announced that President Moon will embark on an eight-day trip to the Middle East on Saturday to engage in economic diplomacy with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. It added that Im Jong-seok will accompany the president on this trip as a special advisor for foreign affairs and security specializing in the UAE.
In an interview with the Kookmin Ilbo newspaper on January 13, Im attacked the conservative presidential candidate Yoon Seok-yeol for his latest comment that a preemptive strike would be the only option to avoid mass destruction from North Korea’s alleged “hypersonic” missile. Im argued that “regardless of who wins the election, if the next president does not understand diplomacy, the Republic of Korea cannot live well.”
Thae Yong-ho, a former senior North Korean diplomat and current lawmaker from the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), criticized the Moon administration for appointing Im as a special advisor on January 14. He pointed out the fact that Im is the head of the Foundation of Inter-Korea Cooperation, and noted: “What kind of government is this Moon Jae-in administration that appoints a person who says he can give money to North Korea but doesn’t have a single penny to give to the POWs as the special advisor for foreign affairs?”
Cho Tae-yong, former First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and a current lawmaker from the PPP, also released a statement criticizing the Blue House’s appointment of Im. “The foundation used sophistry, arguing that the royalties belong to North Korea’s central broadcasting committee, not the North Korean government,” Cho said. “In short, the Moon Jae-in administration’s stance is that they can give money to North Korea but not to the POWs. Is the special advisor’s role to stand on the side of North Korea against the POWs who sacrificed their lives for the country?”
