S Korea court orders Mitsubishi to compensate victims for WWII forced labor

South Korea's top court ruled on Thursday that Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries must compensate 28 South Koreans for forced labour during World War II in a ruling that drew an immediate rebuke from Tokyo.

The decision echoed the Supreme Court's landmark verdict last month that ruled in favour of South Koreans seeking compensation from Japan's Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal for their wartime forced labour.

The court upheld a 2013 appeals court decision that Mitsubishi must pay 80 million won ($71,000) in compensation to each of the 23 plaintiffs.

In a separate ruling, the court also ordered Mitsubishi to pay up to $134,000 to each of five plaintiffs or their families.

South Koreans mark 72 years since end of Japanese rule

'Deeply regrettable'

Mitsubishi called the verdict "deeply regrettable", saying in a statement it would discuss its response with the Japanese government.

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono issued a statement condemning the court's decision, which he said was unacceptable.

"This fundamentally overturns the legal basis for friendly ties between Japan and South Korea and is extremely regrettable," Kono said.

The five former labourers had previously tried legal action in Japan, but their cases were dismissed on the grounds that the South Koreans right to reparation was terminated by a 1965 treaty that normalised diplomatic ties between the two countries.

However, the South Korean Supreme Court upheld last month's ruling that Japan's occupation of the peninsula was illegal.

"The treaty does not cover the right of the victims of forced labour to compensation for crimes against humanity committed by a Japanese company in direct connection with the Japanese government's illegal colonial rule and war of aggression against the Korean Peninsula," the court said in a statement.

'I feel great'

Kim Seong-ju, a 90-year-old plaintiff in the second case, said she was sent to Japan when she was 15 with the recommendation of her teacher, who was a Japanese national.

"I was told that I could go to middle and high school and study more, but it turned out I had to work at the factory all the time," Kim told a news conference after the ruling, showing her permanently injured hand. "Now I feel great."

Japan and South Korea share a bitter history that includes Japan's 1910-45 colonisation of the Korean Peninsula and the use of comfort women, Japan's euphemism for girls and women, many of them Korean, forced to work in military brothels.

The rows over wartime history have long been a stumbling block for relations between the East Asian neighbours, sparking concern their joint efforts to rein in North Korea's nuclear programme could be affected.

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Powerful solar storm hits earth; will it disrupt communication, power grids?

News Network

May 11,2024

Washington, May 11: The most powerful solar storm in more than two decades struck Earth on Friday, triggering spectacular celestial light shows from Tasmania to Britain -- and threatening possible disruptions to satellites and power grids as it persists into the weekend.

The first of several coronal mass ejections (CMEs) -- expulsions of plasma and magnetic fields from the Sun -- came just after 1600 GMT, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s Space Weather Prediction Center.

It was later upgraded to an "extreme" geomagnetic storm -- the first since the "Halloween Storms" of October 2003 caused blackouts in Sweden and damaged power infrastructure in South Africa. More CMEs are expected to pummel the planet in the coming days.

Social media lit up with people posting pictures of auroras from northern Europe and Australasia.

"We've just woken the kids to go watch the Northern Lights in the back garden! Clearly visible with the naked eye," Iain Mansfield in Hertford, England, told AFP.

That sense of wonder was shared in Australia's island state of Tasmania.

"Absolutely biblical skies in Tasmania at 4 am this morning. I'm leaving today and knew I could not pass up this opportunity," photographer Sean O' Riordan posted on social media platform X alongside a photo.

Authorities notified satellite operators, airlines, and the power grid to take precautionary steps for potential disruptions caused by changes to Earth's magnetic field.

Elon Musk, whose Starlink satellite internet operator has some 5,000 satellites in low Earth orbit, described the solar storm as the "biggest in a long time."

"Starlink satellites are under a lot of pressure, but holding up so far," Musk posted on his X platform.

Unlike solar flares, which travel at the speed of light and reach Earth in around eight minutes, CMEs travel at a more sedate pace, with officials putting the current average at 800 kilometers (500 miles) per second.

The CMEs emanated from a massive sunspot cluster that is 17 times wider than our planet. The Sun is approaching the peak of an 11-year cycle that brings heightened activity.

'Go outside tonight and look'

Mathew Owens, a professor of space physics at the University of Reading, told AFP that how far the effects would be felt over the planet's northern and southern latitudes would depend on the storm's final strength.

"Go outside tonight and look would be my advice because if you see the aurora, it's quite a spectacular thing," he said. People with eclipse glasses can also look for the sunspot cluster during the day.

In the United States, this could include places such as Northern California and Alabama, officials said.

NOAA's Brent Gordon encouraged the public to try to capture the night sky with phone cameras even if they couldn't see auroras with their naked eyes.

"Just go out your back door and take a picture with the newer cell phones and you'd be amazed at what you see in that picture versus what you see with your eyes."

Spacecraft and pigeons

Fluctuating magnetic fields associated with geomagnetic storms induce currents in long wires, including power lines, which can potentially lead to blackouts. Long pipelines can also become electrified, leading to engineering problems.

Spacecraft are also at risk from high doses of radiation, although the atmosphere prevents this from reaching Earth.

NASA has a dedicated team looking into astronaut safety and can ask astronauts on the International Space Station to move to places within the outpost that are better shielded.

Following one particularly strong flare peak, the US Space Weather Prediction Center said users of high-frequency radio signals "may experience temporary degradation or complete loss of signal on much of the sunlit side of Earth."

Even pigeons and other species that have internal biological compasses could also be affected. Pigeon handlers have noted a reduction in birds coming home during geomagnetic storms, according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Officials said people should have the normal backup plans in place for power outages, such as having flashlights, batteries, and radios at hand.

The most powerful geomagnetic storm in recorded history, known as the Carrington Event after British astronomer Richard Carrington, occurred in September 1859.

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