A court of appeals on Thursday upheld a lower court’s ruling in favor of psychological damage compensation for hundreds of victims of the brutal crackdown on the 1980 pro-democracy uprising in the southwestern city of Gwangju.

The Seoul High Court ordered the government to pay 43 billion won (US$32.2 million) to 880 Gwangju uprising-related victims and their families to compensate for their psychological sufferings, saying it will maintain the standards for calculating their damages set by the first trial.

The lawsuit came after the Constitutional Court ruled in May 2021 that past compensation failed to properly address and heal the psychological pains of the victims. On May 18, 1980, the military cracked down on demonstrators, including students, protesting against then President Chun Doo-hwan, who had taken power in a military coup a year earlier. The harsh quelling of the uprising left more than 200 dead and 1,800 others wounded.

Last November, a district court, recognizing the need for mental damage c
ompensation in line with the Constitutional Court’s ruling, set compensation for arrest, detention and imprisonment at 300,000 won per day, while awarding 5 million won for injuries without disabilities and 400 million won for death.

Source: Yonhap News Agency