OSAKA (Kyodo) Atomic bomb survivors living in South Korea settled a lawsuit Friday with Japan under which they will each receive ¥1.1 million for the mental anguish they claim to have suffered over being denied health care benefits because they live overseas.
The so-called amicable settlement, the first among similar suits, was reached between 130 plaintiffs and the state at the Osaka District Court. It follows a 2007 Supreme Court ruling that the state notification to terminate the benefit eligibility of survivors who left Japan was illegal.
According to the plaintiffs' lawyers, similar suits have been filed by hibakusha in South Korea, the United States and Brazil with the the Osaka, Hiroshima and Nagasaki District courts, and the lawyers expect them to be settled at early dates.
A Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry official said the state is ready to settle the pending suits amicably.