According to Yonhap News Agency, the Gwangju District Court ruled Mitsubishi must pay some $106,000 to an 85-year-old Korean man, Kim Young-ok, who was forced into arduous toil at an aircraft factory under the Japanese company during wartime. Additionally, around $2,800 in compensation was ordered to a relative of deceased forced labor victim Choe Jeong-rye.
However, the sum of compensation is less than what the plaintiffs had demanded.
The Gwangju court is expected to hold a similar trial on Friday.
The Korean peninsula was occupied by the Japanese Empire between 1910 and 1945. It is believed that Japanese firms forced prisoners of war, as well as local residents into hard labor within the Japanese military industry during the occupation.
In 2016, Mitsubishi agreed to pay $15,000 dollars to 3,765 Chinese men and women who the company exploited for its needs in coal mines during WWII.
