A court on Tuesday overturned an initial ruling that the state was not responsible for compensating humidifier disinfectant victims or their bereaved families.

The Seoul High Court ordered the state to pay three to five million won, or 22- to 38-hundred U.S. dollars, to three plaintiffs in a compensation lawsuit filed by five people, including victims of the humidifier disinfectant.

The court ruled that the exercise of discretion by public officials concerning negligence during the review and announcement of chemical hazards was significantly unreasonable and therefore illegal, marking the first time in which the state's liability for compensation has been recognized.

Victims who received treatment at hospitals or lost family members due to unexplained lung damage after using humidifier disinfectants made and sold by Oxy Reckitt Benckiser Korea between 2008 and 2011 filed a lawsuit for damages against the government and the manufacturers in 2014.

The first trial in 2016 acknowledged the manufacturer's liability for compensation, but dismissed the claim against the state, citing a lack of evidence.