Investigative panel broadens list of colonial-era collaborators

Investigative panel broadens list of colonial-era collaborators
SEOUL, July 10 (Yonhap) -- A presidential panel said Friday it will announce a
new list of suspected collaborators with Japan during its 1910-45 colonial rule
over Korea, including those in the military, police and artistic community at the
time.

"The panel will disclose the identities of the suspected collaborators next month
on Aug. 15, Liberation Day, along with those already named," the Investigative
Commission on Pro-Japanese Collaborators' Property said.
The presidential body was launched in 2006 to identify those who cooperated with
Japan and to confiscate the assets they accumulated in exchange for their
services.
Under a special law that established the commission, high-level politicians who
were involved in the forced signing of a treaty annexing the Korean Peninsula to
Japan, served in the Japanese parliament, or worked for Japanese authorities
during the colonial period were brought under investigation.
"The commission has gained a firm foothold in seeking out and seizing their
assets. Therefore, we decided to expand the mission," a commission official said.
The new list is expected to include former police and military officers involved
in cracking down on Korean independence movements and recruiting Korean women to
provide sexual services to Japanese soldiers, known widely as "comfort women."
Artists whose work praised Japanese rule will also be subject to the probe, they
added.
The panel has listed 452 people for investigation since 2006 and has seized 7.7
million square meters of land valued at 157 billion won (US$122 million) from 94
confirmed collaborators. The panel's four-year term ends next year.
brk@yna.co.kr
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