Corporate Accountability

This section explores the legal mechanisms used to bridge the gap between wartime industrial entities and their modern-day successors. It examines the "corporate veil" through the lens of international human rights litigation and the practical challenges of asset liquidation.

The Continuity of Legal Personality

When a wartime company is dissolved or restructured during the post-war occupation, does the new entity inherit the "delictual" (tort) liabilities of its predecessor?

• Primary Source (Korea): Supreme Court of Korea (2018) - Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Case. The Court’s analysis of "Substantial Identity," ruling that the modern Mitsubishi is effectively the same legal person as the wartime entity despite post-war reorganization.
• Primary Source (Japan): Japanese Commercial Code / Corporate Law Archive. Resources on the "De-concentration" of Japanese firms under the Allied Occupation (GHQ) and the intended "clean slate" for successor firms.
• Secondary Resource: Journal of Business Ethics. "Successor Liability for Gross Human Rights Violations: The Case of Japanese Firms."

The "Liquidation" Conflict

Does a domestic court have the authority to seize and sell the intellectual property or physical assets of a foreign corporation to satisfy a human rights judgment?

• Primary Source: Pohang Branch of Daegu District Court (2019). The order to seize shares held by Nippon Steel in the PNR joint venture.
• Secondary Resource: International & Comparative Law Quarterly. "Enforcing Human Rights Judgments Against Transnational Corporations: The Limits of Territorial Jurisdiction."

The Intersection of ESG and Legal Liability

How do modern ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) standards and the "UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights" influence the legal and reputational strategies of firms facing historical claims?

• Primary Source: UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (The "Ruggie" Framework). This is the global standard that many argue Japanese firms should follow regardless of the 1965 Treaty.
• Secondary Resources:
  • Mathias Siems & David Cabrelli (eds), Comparative Company Law: A Case-Based Approach (2nd ed., Hart Publishing 2018).
  • Timothy Webster, "The Price of Claims: Piercing the Corporate Veil in the Japan-Korea Forced Labor Litigation," 42 University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law 519 (2021). This is the most comprehensive English-language analysis of how the South Korean Supreme Court used corporate law to overcome the "successor liability" challenge.
     

Glossary of Terms