A pair of former South Korean prisoners of wars during the Korean War have won an indemnity suit filed against North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and the communist regime over decades of alleged forced labor in the North. 

The Seoul Central District Court on Tuesday ruled the accused to pay 21 million won each to two South Korean plaintiffs. 

The plaintiffs, identified as their surnames Han and Noh, filed a joint suit in October of 2016, accusing the North of refusing to repatriate them to the South even after the 1953 armistice and making them work for the North Korean internal affairs ministry against their will. 

Noh and Han escaped the North in 2000 and 2001, respectively. 

Their legal representatives hailed the ruling, noting it is the first time a South Korean court acknowledges its rights to hold accountable the North in cases involving South Korean POWs.