Presidential committee unveils list of Japanese collaborators

SEOUL, Nov. 27 (Yonhap) -- A presidential committee on Friday unveiled a list of
704 Korean people that it says collaborated with Japan during the late years of
the 1910-45 Japanese colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

The list covers some renowned figures from academic, educational, artistic and
media circles who were allegedly involved in pro-Japanese activities between
1937-45, said the Presidential Committee for the Inspection of Collaborations for
Japanese Imperialism (PCIC).
Kim Sung-soo, founder of South Korea's major daily Dong-a Ilbo, Bang Eung-mo,
former chairman of Chosun Ilbo, and George Paik, former president of Yonsei
University, are among the people newly classified as Japanese collaborators, the
PCIC said.
All told, the committee has published a list of 1,005 Japanese collaborators, as
it already designated 301 figures as pro-Japanese during the early and middle
periods of the colonial rule.
Former President Park Chung-hee was not included in the government-compiled list,
though the conservative late president was listed as a Japanese collaborator in a
separate report published recently by a liberal civic group.
The PCIC was launched in 2005 to examine collaborators who helped the Japanese
regime exploit their compatriots and even root out the independence movement
before and during the period. It will wrap up its mission on Nov. 30.
The Korean Peninsula was annexed by the Japanese imperial government in 1910 but
achieved independence at the end of World War II.
The issue of exposing collaborators has been a hot potato for over half a century
in South Korea.
brk@yna.co.kr
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