Residents of Japan seek compensation from N Korea for abuses

By MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — A group of residents of Japan who say they suffered decades of human rights abuses in North Korea after being lured there by false promises of a “Paradise on Earth” are asking a Japanese appeals court to rule that North Korea should pay them compensation. The five plaintiffs, including ethnic Koreans and Japanese, moved to North Korea under a program in which it promised free health care, education, jobs and other benefits. But they said none was available and they were assigned manual work at mines, forests or farms. The plaintiffs filed a lawsuit seeking compensation in 2018, but the court ruled it didn’t have jurisdiction because the abuses occurred outside Japan. The plaintiffs argued Friday that their suffering began when they boarded ships in Japan.