A Seoul court has ruled in favor of the bereaved family of a wartime forced labor victim that rejected the government’s compensation plan and sought direct reparations from a Japanese company.

The Seoul District Court on Wednesday ordered MH Power Systems Korea, a local subsidiary of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, to pay 83 million won, or about 57-thousand U.S. dollars, to the family of the late Chung Chang-hee.

This means Chung’s family can receive the compensation that was supposed to come from Mitsubishi Heavy from its subsidiary, a third party in the case.

The court also allowed for the provisional execution of its ruling, meaning it can enforce the payment even if the ruling is appealed.

In March 2023, the Yoon Suk Yeol government proposed compensating forced labor victims through a Seoul-backed public foundation, instead of requiring direct payments from Japanese companies that benefited from forced labor during World War II.

However, Chung’s family rejected the proposal and filed a lawsuit that month against the Japanese firm’s local subsidiary.