"The state compensates the victims of May 18 for 43 billion won in mental damages"...Supreme Court confirmation

[Anchor]
The Supreme Court ruled that the state should pay 43 billion won in mental damages to victims of the May 18 Democratic Movement and people of merit.

Related lawsuits have been filed since the Constitutional Court ruled in 2021 that victims of May 18 could claim additional mental damages.

Reporter Shin Ji-won reports.

[Reporter]
More than 800 victims of the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement finally won a lawsuit filed against the government to compensate for mental damage.

In September, the Seoul High Court ruled that the state should pay about 43 billion won to the May 18 victims,

The Supreme Court confirmed the original trial without going through the original trial.

[Kim Jong-bok / May 18 Victim's legal representative (since the verdict of appeal last September): (The litigants) are satisfied that the judiciary has understood the mental pain. I think you reflected a lot of the characteristics of not being able to prepare your life properly because you were damaged as a child....]

The government claimed that alimony was too high compared to other cases, but it was not accepted.

The court recognized 300,000 won per day if the victim was arrested and detained, and more alimony if he was injured or disabled.

Those who have not been proven to be damaged or dropped out of the process have been excluded.

The May 18 victims' compensation lawsuits have been filed one after another since the Constitutional Court decided in 2021.

This is because the Constitutional Court decided that it was unconstitutional to ban additional compensation claims because the May 18 compensation paid in the past did not take into account mental damage.

[Choi Hyung-ho / May 18 Democratic Movement Injured People's Association Seoul (November last year): We didn't use the term 'compensation' from the beginning. The Constitutional Court decided late that mental damages should be compensated....]

While the ruling reaffirmed the state's liability for compensation, some point out that legislation needs to be supplemented to further clarify the scope of compensation for damages.

I'm Shin Jiwon of YTN.


Video editing: Choi Yeon-ho
Design: Im Saetbyul