A court has ruled that it is unlawful to refuse compensation to the bereaved family of a soldier who died during military service after they were informed of his death-in-line-of-duty status approximately 30 years later.

The Seoul Administrative Court's Administrative Division 10 (Presiding Judge Jung Eun-young) ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed by the bereaved family of A against the head of the Armed Forces Financial Management Group seeking to cancel the decision to reject their military death compensation claim.

A enlisted in the Army in September 1954, the year following the signing of the Korean War armistice, and died in November 1956 while serving in the Construction Engineer Corps.

The Army Headquarters reclassified A's death as occurring in the line of duty around 1996 to 1997, but did not notify the bereaved family. It was not until May of last year, about 28 years later, that the family was finally informed of the duty-related death.

The family applied for death compensation in November of that year, but the Armed Forces Financial Management Group refused payment on the grounds that the statute of limitations had expired.

This was because, under the former military death benefit regulations, compensation must be claimed within five years from the date of receiving notice of death.

In response, the family filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the refusal, and the court ruled that it was unreasonable for the military to deny compensation based on the expiration of the statute of limitations, given that the military had belatedly notified them of the duty-related status.

The court first acknowledged that the statute of limitations had technically expired, stating, "Considering that the plaintiffs became aware of A's death in 1965, the bereaved family could have known the grounds for claiming compensation by 1965 at the latest."

However, the court pointed out, "It is reasonable to view that there were circumstances preventing the bereaved family from claiming compensation, and the military's refusal to pay compensation on the grounds that the statute of limitations has passed constitutes an abuse of right that violates the principle of good faith."

The court noted that the military initially provided no compensation when notifying them of A's death, and even after belatedly reclassifying it as a death in the line of duty, failed to inform the family.

"Under these circumstances, it is difficult to expect the bereaved family to have exercised their rights," the court stated, adding, "Had they known about the duty-related death decision, they likely would have claimed the compensation."

Concluding that "refusing to pay compensation runs counter to the purpose of the military death compensation system and fails to align with the rationale behind the statute of limitations," the court ruled in favor of the bereaved family.

(Photo: Yonhap News)