Court grants S. Korean woman A-bomb health passbook

NAGASAKI, Nov. 10 Kyodo - The Nagasaki District Court on Monday ordered the state and the Nagasaki prefectural government to give a South Korean woman an atomic-bomb sufferer's health passbook and associated benefits, declaring illegal the prefecture's earlier refusal to issue it to her under an old rule.

At issue in the lawsuit was whether the rejection of her application for the
passbook, entitling her to medical allowances as a ''hibakusha,'' or
atomic-bomb survivor, could stand even though the rule requiring an applicant
to visit Japan in person was abolished after the refusal.
Presiding Judge Keiji Suda said, ''It is illegal to reject the application only
because the plaintiff did not visit Japan,'' recognizing ''little need'' for
such a requirement and ''enough room'' for an alternative to visiting the
country.
In similar but separate suits, the Hiroshima district and high courts declared
the rule illegal in July and September, respectively, while another suit is
pending at the Osaka District Court.
Monday's ruling is the third case in which a court has confirmed the illegality
of the visitation requirement and is the first where such a decision was given
when the plaintiff is still alive.
The latest suit was brought by Chong Nam Su, an 88-year-old bed-ridden woman
living in the South Korean coastal city of Busan.
Chong lived about 2.4 kilometers from ground zero in Hiroshima when she was
exposed to the atomic bomb blast there on Aug. 6, 1945. She returned to South
Korea in fall the same year.
In August 2006, she mailed her passbook application to the government of
Nagasaki Prefecture, where one of her supporters lived, but it was rejected
because she could not visit Japan.
Chong brought a suit against the state and the local government in February
last year.
While the rule required an applicant to file with the governor of a prefecture
in which the applicant lived, Chong argued during the trial that the rule did
not ask the applicant to visit an office in person.
The state and the prefecture said the rule clearly did not allow an application
to be made from overseas and that it would be difficult to have a face-to-face
interview with an applicant unless the person visit Japan.
''It's been a long time since the trial began. Though I have long felt
insecurity and frustration, I'm really pleased with today's ruling,'' the
plaintiff's 69-year-old son, Kang Sok Chong, said. ''I want tell my mother the
news soon.''
An official of the prefectural government said it will consult with related
organizations about whether to appeal the ruling after studying it carefully.
Previously, the Atomic Bomb Victims Relief Law required an applicant to file a
request for a passbook with the governor who has jurisdiction over the
applicant's residence, but that requirement was dropped in a legal amendment in
June.
Under the amended rule, which will take effect by year-end, those seeking to
apply for the passbooks overseas will be able to do so outside Japan.
A passbook holder is eligible to receive various forms of support, mainly
medical allowances.
About 4,330 overseas residents in 35 countries had been granted atomic-bomb
sufferers' passbooks as of March, according to health ministry figures.
They include about 2,930 in South Korea, 970 in the United States and 160 in
Brazil, with some 3,300 people having been paid healthcare benefits.
About 50 people have not been able to get their passbooks because they are
unable to come to Japan for various reasons although they have proof of their
exposure to atomic-bomb blasts issued by Japanese municipal governments.