S. Korean appeals court dismisses inmates' COVID-19 lawsuit against government

SEOUL, April 25 (AJP) - A South Korean appellate court has dismissed a damages lawsuit filed by inmates against the government over a massive COVID-19 outbreak at a Seoul detention center in 2020.

A Seoul Central District Court appellate panel upheld a lower court's ruling against 33 inmates and their families who sued the state and then-Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae, Yonhap News Agency reported Saturday.

The plaintiffs had argued that the government and correctional authorities were liable for the cluster infections at the Seoul Eastern Detention Center due to negligent virus containment measures.

However, the court found no direct epidemiological link between an initial outbreak among prison staff in November 2020 and a larger, subsequent wave among inmates in December.

"The similarity between the viruses in the first and second waves was low," the court stated. "It is reasonable to view the routes of virus introduction as different."

The court also rejected the plaintiffs' claims that the facility exacerbated the spread by failing to strictly separate close contacts based on transmission routes. The judges noted that the detention center had implemented clear separation standards between confirmed and non-confirmed individuals, adding that tracing exact transmission routes for each case was "quite difficult" given the time and space constraints at the time.