Park Gyuntaek: "Additional Compensation Should Be Provided to May 18 Victims With Final Mental-Damages Judgments"

"Awards for the Same Harm Vary by Up to Fourfold"
Plan to Pay the Difference After Deducting Existing Compensation and Other Payments

A plan is underway to allow victims of the May 18 Democratization Movement whose judgments for mental damages have become final to receive additional compensation for any shortfall, based on compensation standards set by law. The aim is to address differences in court-awarded damages through separate state compensation without changing existing judgments.

Rep. Park Gyuntaek of the Democratic Party of Korea, who represents Gwangju Gwangsan A, pointed out on October 13, during the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee's audit of the Constitutional Court, that awards for mental damages to May 18 victims varied by a factor of two to four depending on the court and the panel of judges.

Lawmaker Park Gyuntaek

Rep. Park argues that the state should provide relief to victims and bereaved families who received relatively low compensation and have difficulty seeking additional damages because their judgments have become final.

A partial amendment to the Act on Compensation for Persons Related to the May 18 Democratization Movement, sponsored by Rep. Park in December 2025, establishes standards for calculating compensation for mental harm.

Under the proposal, the state would deduct the principal amount awarded in existing judgments and any criminal compensation from the amount calculated under the proposed standards, then pay the remaining balance. The proposal stems from differences in awards following a Constitutional Court ruling that allowed claims for mental damages. In 2021, the Court ruled that it was unconstitutional to bar such claims on the grounds that claimants had agreed to compensation decisions, even though the previous compensation did not cover mental damages (Case No. 2019Hun-Ka17).

The ruling allowed May 18 victims who had already received compensation to separately seek damages for mental harm. However, the calculation of consolation money was left to the discretion of each court.

Rep. Park said that disparities in awards emerged in the process and that victims who received smaller amounts could not sue again over the same matter to recover the shortfall because of the final judgments' res judicata effect.

Son Inhyeok, Secretary General of the Constitutional Court, responded to Rep. Park's question during the audit on whether the proposed amendment was constitutional or unconstitutional, saying, "I cannot give a definitive answer."

He said that the National Assembly could set standards for judges by law, adding, "If it is difficult to assess mental harm, there may be room to establish certain standards. That is a legislative choice for the National Assembly."

Rep. Park also said he would push for the swift passage of the amendment to establish compensation standards and provide additional state compensation.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.