Japanese court orders Pyongyang to pay damages to survivors of deceptive repatriation program

TOKYO (AP) — A Japanese court on Monday held North Korea responsible for the human rights violation of four plaintiffs lured to the North by Pyongyang’s postwar false promise of living in “paradise on Earth,” ordering its government to pay them 22 million yen ($143,000) each, a decision welcomed by the survivors and their supporters as groundbreaking.

Kenji Fukuda, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said it was significant to win a court decision acknowledging North Korea’s human rights violations.