The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed an appeal lodged by a South Korean man who claimed it is illegal for the Japanese government to deny him pension payments for serving in combat as a Japanese soldier during World War II.
The top court upheld the decision handed down by the Tokyo High Court, which had also turned down an appeal filed by the claimant, Kim Song Su, in 1999.
Referring to the issue of compensation for non-Japanese who took part in the war as Japanese soldiers, Presiding Justice Hiroharu Kitagawa of the court's No. 2 petty bench said: "It is a matter of legislative policy whether some measures should be taken for such people. We cannot conclude that the decision deviated from the range of discretion of the legislature."
According to the ruling, Kim, 76, voluntarily joined the Japanese army in 1944 and was dispatched to various places in Southeast Asia. He lost his right arm and the use of his left leg during combat.
In 1994, Kim applied to the then Management and Coordination Agency for a pension as a wounded soldier. However, the agency rejected his claim on grounds that Kim lost Japanese citizenship under the San Francisco peace treaty of 1952.
Kim had filed a suit against the agency's pension bureau director general demanding annulment of its earlier decision to withhold pension payments, claiming the clause limiting the pension to only Japanese was unconstitutional.
However, the Tokyo District Court turned down Kim's claim in 1998, while acknowledging that the current situation for people like Kim is problematic.
An appeal to the Tokyo High Court in 1999 was also unsuccessful.
In a separate trial, Kim filed a damages suit against the Japanese government demanding compensation, but the top court also rejected his appeal Friday.