Government to track, retrieve assets hidden by pro-Japanese collaborators
A new government commission launching in December will seek to recover at least 32.5 billion won ($22.9 million) in assets tied to pro-Japanese collaborators.
Minister of Justice Jung Sung-ho speaks at a Liberation Day event in Seocho District, southern Seoul, on Aug. 13.YONHAP
A government commission tasked with tracking down assets hidden by pro-Japanese collaborators and returning them to the state will officially begin operations in December, reviving the effort 16 years after investigations into such assets ended in 2010.
President Lee Jae Myung had made the recovery of assets held by pro-Japanese collaborators a key state agenda item shortly after taking office last year. The National Assembly passed a special act on the state seizure of property belonging to pro-Japanese and antinational collaborators in May this year, which provided the legal basis for the commission’s activities. The law takes effect Dec. 3.
The new commission would succeed the former Roh Moo-hyun administration's commission and is expected to recover at least 32.5 billion won ($22.9 million) in assets linked to pro-Japanese collaborators, according to Justice Minister Jung Sung-ho.
Assets recovered through the commission’s investigations will be used primarily to support independence activists and their descendants.
“We must build a just country where those who gave everything for the nation are respected and where the ill-gotten gains of those who sold out the country to amass wealth and honor are returned to where they belong,” Jung said on Saturday, Liberation Day.
The first commission tracked assets belonging to pro-Japanese collaborators for five years from 2006 to 2010. It identified 2,359 plots of land belonging to 168 collaborators and transferred them to the state. The land was valued at 237.3 billion won at the time.
After the commission ended its operations, the Justice Ministry continued efforts to recover identified assets through lawsuits.
Last October, the ministry filed an unjust enrichment lawsuit seeking the return of 7.8 billion won obtained by a descendant of Lee Hae-seung, who was designated a pro-Japanese and antinational collaborator, from the sale of 31 plots of land in Howon-dong, Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi.
Former President Roh Moo-hyun speaks with members of a government commission tasked with tracking down assets hidden by pro-Japanese collaborators on July 13, 2006.JOONGANG ILBO
The ministry also sued a descendant of Lim Seon-jun, who was likewise designated a pro-Japanese and antinational collaborator, seeking the return of 53 million won in proceeds from the sale of such assets. The ministry won the case at the first trial in April this year.
There had been no official government agency or organization responsible for investigating newly discovered assets belonging to pro-Japanese collaborators since the first commission ended its work, which created a 16-year gap in investigations.
Following the passage of the special act, the Justice Ministry established a task force in June to prepare for the new commission. The 11-member team includes officials from relevant ministries, including the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs. Lee Young-chang, an acting human rights protection officer at the Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office, heads the task force.
The special act explicitly allows the state to recover proceeds from the disposal of assets linked to pro-Japanese collaborators, even if their descendants have already sold real estate or other property. The provision is intended to prevent descendants from evading state seizure by selling assets, converting them into cash and concealing the proceeds.
The law will also introduce a reward system for people who locate and report assets linked to pro-Japanese collaborators.
BY JEONG JIN-WOO [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
