Court dismisses requests to remove names from collaborators' list

SEOUL, Nov. 6 (Yonhap) -- A Seoul court on Friday dismissed injunctions requested
by descendants of former President Park Chung-hee and an ex-journalist to remove
their forebearers from a new list naming people who collaborated with the
Japanese colonial government to be announced this weekend.
The Institute for Research in Collaborationist Activities will release on Sunday
a set of books bearing the names of some 4,300 Korean nationals it identified as
having cooperated with Japan before and during its colonial annexation of Korea
from 1910-1945.
The list is known to include the late president and the former journalist Jang
Ji-yeon.
The only son of the late president, Park Ji-man, and Jang's descendants early
this week requested the Seoul Northern District Court to suspend publication of
the books and remove their names.
"The compilation of the list can be seen as an expression of an academic opinion.
This opinion does not cross the border of freedom of expression," the court said
in a ruling.
Regarding the late President Park, the institute based its conclusion on the fact
that he, after graduating from the Japanese military academy in 1944, worked for
the Manchurian army, which was part was the Japanese army at that time, before he
was transferred to Japan. Manchuria, a northeastern region of Chinese mainland,
had been invaded by the Japanese army in 1931.
Jang has been criticized for having written poems and stories praising the
Japanese annexation of Korea until he died in 1921.
brk@yna.co.kr
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