Print

Mail

wiki links

Court says atomic bomb victim must return to Japan

Lee Bong-hee, center, son of plaintiff Lee Sang-yop, carries a picture of his father, seen at right, and mother as he arrives at the Hiroshima District Court in Hiroshima, western Japan, on Tuesday. PHOTO: AP

A Japanese court on Tuesday rejected a South Korean man's demand that he be certified for benefits as an atomic bomb victim without returning to Japan, in the first ruling on the dispute.

Lee Sang-yop, 83, was brought by Japan as a forced laborer from the colonized Korean peninsula. He suffered radiation when US forces destroyed Hiroshima in the world's first nuclear attack.

Japan offers benefits to all recognized atomic bomb survivors. Lee returned to Korea after the war and said he was too ill to go to Japan to be certified.

`reasonable'

The Hiroshima District Court refused his case, saying it was reasonable for the government to require interviews with applicants for benefits due to problems in forgery.

"Mr. Lee is too sick to travel to Japan," said Yumi Yukinaga, one of the plaintiff's representing lawyers. "We will file an appeal to the higher court."

Lee had sought ?350,000 (US$3,000) in compensation from Japan's central and Hiroshima prefectural governments.

In 2002, the Osaka High Court ruled that atomic-bomb survivors were entitled to benefits if they live outside of Japan, paving the way starting last year for victims overseas to seek health care through Japanese diplomatic missions.

But they still have to fly to Japan to get a certification card, which is necessary to receive care.

A number of similar lawsuits have been filed by those living in South Korea and Brazil, to which many Japanese had immigrated.

horrific

The US bombing of Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, killed about 140,000 people, almost half the city, either immediately or in the months that followed from radiation injuries or horrific burns.

Hundreds of thousands of others have suffered from health problems due to the radiation. The second atomic bomb dropped three days later on Nagasaki killed more than 70,000 people.
This story has been viewed 1428 times.