The Supreme Court ruled that the military authorities' refusal to pay a soldier death compensation benefit claimed by a Korean War (6/25 War) casualty's descendant may have been an unreasonable decision, so a court must rehear the case.
The Supreme Court's First Division (presiding Justice Shin Sookhee) said on the 8th that on the 2nd of the previous month it overturned the appellate ruling that dismissed a person surnamed A's suit to cancel the decision denying payment of the soldier death compensation benefit and sent the case back to the Seoul High Court.
A's father, a person surnamed B, enlisted in the Army on Feb. 1, 1949, and died on Aug. 6, 1950, a little over a month after the outbreak of the Korean War (6/25 War). B was initially classified as "missing," and a death report was filed in Jan. 1963. Army Headquarters processed B's death as "killed in action" in Mar. 1998.
Under the Act on Compensation for Accidents of Soldiers, the soldier death compensation benefit is paid to the bereaved family of a soldier who died in the line of duty, such as killed in action or on official duty. The payment amount is determined based on the average standard monthly income for all public officials. For families of those killed in action, 60 times the average amount is paid, which as of now is 357 million won.
However, to receive the benefit, one must apply to the Armed Forces Financial Management Corps within five years of the date of death. A, the child of B, applied to the head of the Armed Forces Financial Management Corps on July 25, 2022, for payment of the soldier death compensation benefit. The corps decided that "the statute of limitations has expired, so payment of the benefit for the deceased is not possible."
A sought a review from the Soldiers' Accident Compensation Pension Reexamination Committee, but when it was dismissed, filed a suit with the Administrative Court to cancel the disposition.
The first trial dismissed A's claim. The first trial court found that A could have exercised the claim to the soldier death compensation benefit in Mar. 1998, when the father was processed as killed in action, but filed in 2022 after the five-year statute of limitations had passed.
A appealed. During the proceedings, A said, "I did not know my father had died and had only known he was missing. I first learned of the fact that he was killed in action when the Defense POW/MIA Recovery and Identification Agency contacted me in mid-September 2021, and I then applied for the benefit," arguing that the statute of limitations for the claim to the benefit had not expired.
The second trial dismissed A's appeal. The appellate court did not accept A's argument, saying, "When the recovery and identification unit contacted A in September 2021, it was not to notify of the fact of being killed in action but to obtain genetic information necessary for identification in case remains were recovered later."
The Supreme Court reached a different conclusion. It held that if there were circumstances in which the bereaved could not confirm the occurrence of the ground for payment of the soldier death compensation benefit (killed in action), the statute of limitations should run from the time the fact of being killed in action became known.
Accordingly, the Seoul High Court must rehear whether to pay the benefit by determining when A received the father's death notification from the state or otherwise became able to know the fact of being killed in action.