A South Korean court has ordered a Japanese right-wing activist to pay compensation for causing mental pain to a relative of the deceased Korean independence fighter Yun Bong-gil, the Yonhap News Agency said.
Nobuyuki Suzuki planted a wooden post bearing a message saying Takeshima, the pair of islets in the Sea of Japan administered by South Korea and claimed by Japan, is "the integral territory of Japan" in front of a monument honoring Yun in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, last year.
The Seoul Central District Court ordered Suzuki on Wednesday to pay 10 million won (about ¥880,000) in compensation to a nephew of Yun, Yonhap reported.
Yun was an activist when the Korean Peninsula was under Japanese colonial rule.
The court ruled that Suzuki "damaged fighter Yun's honor and insulted him" by installing a post with irresponsible content at a place where his soul is honored.
The court sent Suzuki the lawsuit and a notice of the proceedings. He did not appear for the trial, but it is known he sent a similar wooden post to the court.
Yun staged a deadly bomb attack in 1932 against Japanese dignitaries in Shanghai. He was later sent to Japan and was executed in Kanazawa.