Japan May Compensate Disease Victims

Korean Hansen’s disease sufferers who were detained at an isolation facility during the Japanese occupation may get compensation from the Japanese government without trial.

According to the Mainichi Daily on January 9, a Japanese bipartisan lawmakers’ assembly will submit a revision of the compensation law for Hansen’s disease that adds patients who were compulsorily isolated abroad to the list of those slated to receive damages to the National Assembly, which convenes on January 20

The revision stipulates that patients who were detained in foreign countries such as Korea and Taiwan by Japan deserve the same compensation as inmates detained in Japan.

The Mainichi Daily said that the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare will immediately begin issuing compensation if the Diet passes the revision.

A Tokyo district court ruled in favor of Taiwanese disease sufferers, but ruled against Korean disease sufferers in a lawsuit filed against the Japanese government by Korean and Taiwanese inmates in December 2005. A second trial is underway.

The bipartisan lawmakers’ assembly decided to submit the revision without waiting for the trial outcomes after some pointed out that the subjects should be compensated promptly because they are all old.

Won-Jae Park parkwj@donga.com