Kim Han-soo, a Korean victim of Japan’s wartime forced labor, died at the age of 108 earlier this week, an activist group said Friday.
Kim, who was forced to work in a Nagasaki shipyard run by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for one year starting in August 1944, died Wednesday, according to the Center for Historical Truth and Justice.
“Kim fought for the restoration of human rights and dignity against ‘war crime companies,’ including filing a lawsuit against Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for forced labor,” the center said.
Kim launched a compensation suit against the Japanese company in 2019, claiming he was forced to live like a dog or a pig during the forced labor.
A district court rejected his suit, but an appellate court ruled in favor of him in June this year, ordering Mitsubishi to pay 100 million won (about $69,700) to Kim. The case is now pending before the Supreme Court.