A Seoul court ruled Tuesday that a local manufacturer of humidifier disinfectants should compensate victims who died of lung disease allegedly due to toxic substances in its products.

This marks the first time that a local court has recognized damage in the “killer disinfectant” debacle, four years after the authorities pinpointed chemicals used in disinfectants as the likely reason behind what was then perceived as a mysterious lung disease mostly affecting pregnant women.

So far, 189 deaths -- mostly of lung failure -- have been formally recognized as being linked to the products, while damage claims -- from miscarriages to deaths -- filed this year have reached over 3,400. 

“The disinfectant manufacturer needs to provide each victim with 10-100 million won ($8,560-85,600) in compensation, as there appears to be an obvious connection between the lung-related deaths and illness and the chemicals used in humidifier disinfectants,” the Seoul Central District Court said in a ruling.

The case was brought against Cefu, a local manufacturer of humidifier disinfectants, by 10 victims and the bereaved families of the dead ones in 2014.

Cefu is blamed for the loss of 14 lives and 27 others suffering mostly from lung failure. It can contest the court ruling by appealing.

But if the ruling is confirmed, parents of victims who lost their lives can receive up to 100 million won, while victims who suffered non-fatal damage can receive up to 30 million won. Bereaved families can each receive up to 10 million won.

In a separate case seeking compensation from the government for its alleged negligence in product monitoring, the same court ruled against the victims.

Earlier, another court had cleared the government of its legal responsibility, saying there is no evidence to believe that the authorities had any knowledge of the harmfulness of the problematic products.

Other manufacturers -- RB Korea, a Korean unit of the UK-based Oxy Reckitt Benckiser, Lotte Mart and Homeplus -- have settled with victims in September.

A criminal trial is also pending, as the state prosecutors have indicted in June some 20 people from the manufacturers.

An association of victims and their families welcomed Tuesday’s court decision in a statement, while vowing to continue to fight on.

So far, most of the victims’ families have not received compensation, either from the government or the company, except for government subsidies covering the medical costs already incurred.

A state-led investigation confirmed a connection between at least 698 lung-related deaths and the chemicals used in humidifier disinfectants. But civic groups have said that the total number of victims is well above 200,000, due to the delayed response and insufficient action by the government.

By Kim Da-sol (ddd@heraldcorp.com)