South Korea: Seoul court orders compensation for Vietnam war victim

A court in South Korea has ordered the government to pay compensation for a Vietnamese victim of atrocities during the Vietnam War. This marks the first legal acknowledgement of South Korea’s liability for atrocities that were committed during the war in the 1970s.

The Seoul Central District Court on Tuesday ordered the government to pay around ₩30,000,000 or $23,800 in compensation and additional funds for the delay to Nguyen Thi Thanh, a survivor of the atrocities committed by South Korean troops during the Vietnam War when South Korean forces fought along with US troops. Nguyen filed a lawsuit in 2020 seeking compensation from the war, saying that she lost her family members and also suffered wounds when South Korean marines killed around 70 civilians in her hometown of Quang Nam in southern Vietnam in 1968.

“At the time, soldiers forced the plaintiff’s family to come out of their house, threatening with live ammunition and guns, before shooting them,” said the verdict, according to South Korea’s Yonhap. “As a result, it is acknowledged that the plaintiff’s family died at the scene and the plaintiff and others suffered serious injuries.”

Following the ruling, Nguyen said in a video call message that she welcomed the verdict, saying it would provide “comfort for the souls who fell victim to the incident.”

The South Korean foreign ministry said the two countries have been in close consultations over pending issues for the “future-oriented” advancement of diplomatic ties that were formally established in 1992.

On Monday, the South Korean military said it identified a North Korean balloon flying over its airspace on Sunday but determined that the balloon did not pose a threat. The South Korean defense ministry said that the balloon entered South Korean territory during the weekend, leaving its airspace a few hours later.

The ministry said that it took measures in response to the sighting of the North Korean balloon but did not specify what measures were taken. Yonhap reported that officials believe it was a weather balloon rather than one that was intended for spying purposes.

The report follows the recent incident where the United States shot down a Chinese spy balloon flying over its territory.