`Interest on Damages Starts From Time of Lawsuit Filing`

Interest on damages for people framed for spying or victims of suspicious deaths should be calculated from the moment a lawsuit is filed, not from when the case occurred, a Seoul court said Feb. 3.

If the ruling is upheld, the amount of compensation will decrease significantly and affect a lawsuit in which the plaintiffs are suing for 600 billion won (522 million U.S. dollars) in compensation.

The death of Huh Won-geun, an Army private who was killed by three gunshots in 1984, was initially ruled a suicide.

The Seoul Central District Court said he was murdered, however, saying, “The government should give his five relatives 920 million won (800,000 dollars) in compensation. It should also pay five percent interest on the principal generated from April 2007, when the lawsuit was filed, to February 3 this year, when the ruling was announced.”

bell@donga.com