Relatives of Choi Gye Chol

It is the first court decision on whether funeral fees should be paid from public coffers to hibakusha who die outside Japan. Two similar suits are before the district courts of Osaka and Hiroshima.

The city had refused to pay the allowance to relatives of Choi Gye Chol, arguing that Japan's A-bomb victim support law stipulates the allowance should be paid only to hibakusha who were residing or staying in Japan at the time of their death.

Choi died in a hospital in Pusan on July 25.

"The decision to not pay the allowance because (the man) was not a Nagasaki resident is illegal," presiding Judge Naoyuki Tagawa said.

"Atomic bomb (survivors) who live outside Japan are naturally included among those who are eligible to receive the comprehensive support offered under the atomic bomb victim support law. If ordinances issued for the law's implementation do not allow them to apply for the support, then they overstep the scope of authority entrusted (to local governments) under the law and are invalid."

The Japan Times Weekly: March 19, 2005
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