Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2026
Abstract
Campaigns to review Japan’s wartime legacy and legal liability have recurred throughout postwar Japan. While most of these efforts have targeted the Japanese government, an important subset of actors has also focused on the role of Japanese corporations. And perhaps no one played a larger role in directing attention towards Japan, Inc. than Kim Gyeong-seok, a Korean forced laborer in the 1940s turned redress activist in the 1990s. As described in this Article, Kim’s 1991 lawsuit against Nihon Kokan launched the corporate accountability piece of the reparations project, an endeavor that continues to create ripples even now. The Article briefly sketches Kim’s life, highlights his landmark lawsuit--the first case to seek redress from a Japanese corporation for its wartime conduct and a precursor to the cascade of civil litigation across Northeast Asia--and examines the regional impact of Kim Gyeong-seok’s legal activism.
Recommended Citation
Timothy Webster, Kim Gyeong-seok and the Origins of Northeast Asia’s Corporate Accountability Movement for War and Colonialism, 49 Seattle U. L.R. 673 (2026).
Included in
Comparative and Foreign Law Commons, Human Rights Law Commons, International Law Commons, Transnational Law Commons
