Search begins for assets of collaborators

Pan-government efforts will move into high gear this week to confiscate the assets of hundreds of South Koreans who collaborated with the Japanese during the 1910-1945 period of colonial rule.

Following its official launch this Friday, the state-run committee will begin combing through the records of estates owned by the descendants of the so-called "pro-Japanese traitors" to determine if the assets should be returned to the government.

The 100-strong committee is comprised of officials seconded from related government agencies, including the justice and finance ministries, the National Tax Service and the National Police Agency.

Kim Chang-kuk, formerly chair of the National Human Rights Commission, is to lead the agency along with a couple of standing members.

This is the second such agency in South Korea in almost 60 years since the pioneering committee for investigating antinational activities was disassembled in 1949 due to opposition from the United States, just a year after it was launched.

The committee will kick off with investigations into 400 or so descendants of the most prominent traitors who lined their pockets under Japanese colonization.

The organization said the investigations would help set the record straight on the rightful ownership of the assets.

After the initial 400 investigations, the committee plans to expand to other descendants, and cases suggested by public agencies.

Prior to its formal launching, the state-run committee executed a preliminary investigation into assets claimed by the descendants of Lee Wan-yong, one of the chief traitors who sided with the Japanese.

A 1990 court ruling found Lee`s children the rightful owners of the assets he bequeathed to them.

These assets, mostly in the form of real estate, are presently locked up under a provisional disposition prohibiting the disposal of the land. The committee plans to retrace the ownership of this property to prove it was a gift to a national traitor.

Other cases include the disputed estate of Song Byeong-jun, another well-known collaborator and crony of Lee Wan-yong. The pair played key roles in facilitating Japan`s annexation of Korea.

Local authorities have also referred cases to the committee on land they suspect to belong to descendants of pro-Japanese traitors.

Efforts to punish pro-Japanese collaborators date back to 1947 when Korea enacted a special law to square the assets they had accumulated. This was before the South Korean government was established.

But the United States, during its temporary governance over Korea, declined to confirm the legislation since it targeted some of its associates in local political circles. The investigative body established under the new law was soon disbanded.

(jemmie@heraldm.com)



By Kim Ji-hyun