Sweeping aside a high court ruling backing the city of Nagasaki's refusal to pay medical benefits to a South Korean A-bomb survivor, the Supreme Court on Monday granted the relatives of the deceased hibakusha ¥827,900.
The court rejected Nagasaki's claim that Choi Gye Chol, who died in 2004 at age 78, was not entitled to benefits because the statute of limitations had run out.
Choi had demanded the municipal government pay a combined ¥9.6 million, mainly for unpaid health-care benefits. His family pursued the legal battle after his death.