The government will appeal a court ruling ordering the state to pay medical allowances to a Korean atomic bomb survivor who lives outside Japan, according to government sources.
The government plans to announce the decision today, the deadline for filing an appeal, the sources said, adding that Osaka Prefecture — the entity that stopped the payments — is expected to follow suit.
On June 1, the Osaka District Court rejected the central government's argument that A-bomb survivors, or hibakusha, who are overseas are not entitled to medical allowances. The court ordered Osaka Prefecture to pay compensation to Kwak Kwi Hun, 76, a Korean survivor of the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima, for cutting off his medical allowance after he returned to South Korea.
Kwak filed the lawsuit against the central government and Osaka Prefecture in October 1998. The Osaka District Court ruling marks the first time a court has deemed overseas atomic bomb survivors qualified to receive the allowance.