스크랩 `Japan remains liable for billions to Korea` : Korea Times

[심허]

06-19-2012 19:01

'Japan remains liable for billions to Korea'

Lee Jang-hie, a judge at the Permanent Court of Arbitration

Statutory limitations inapplicable to colonial atrocities

This is the second of a series of interviews regarding how Japan should take responsibility for its colonial rule in Korea; and the 1965 Treaty on Basic Relations between Republic of Korea and Japan ― ED.

By Lee Tae-hoon

A judge at the Permanent Court of Arbitration based in the Hague said Tuesday that Japan must proclaim its legal responsibility for the forceful annexation of Korea and pay compensation of at least several billion dollars to the victims of its colonial rule.

Lee Jang-hie, also a law school professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, stressed that the colonial settlement between Italy and Libya in 2008 gives a valuable lesson to Japan on bringing about reconciliation and forgiveness for past imperialist atrocities.

“The 2008 settlement between Libya and Italy, which came some 60 years after the latter’s colonial occupation, illustrates that there is no statute of limitations for compensation for colonial rule,” the international law expert said.
“It also demonstrates that a formal apology for colonial atrocities and ensuing recompense pave the way to build a future-oriented relationship, which would be worth more than the reparation costs.”

In August 2008, then Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and his Libyan counterpart Moamer Kadhafi signed a “friendship and cooperation agreement” and a $5 billion compensation deal for damage inflicted during the colonial era.

“In the name of the Italian people, as head of the government, it is my duty to apologize and express my sorrow for what happened many years ago and left a scar on many of your families,” Berlusconi said.

In return for the apology and compensation, Italy managed to gain access to Libya’s oil wealth, forge a bilateral military pact and win Libya’s cooperation in the prevention of illegal immigrants.

In a symbolic gesture, the Italian leader even bowed before the son of Omar Mokhtar, a hero of Libyan resistance executed by the Italians, a startling contrast to Japan’s ongoing demand for the removal of a statue of a young Korean girl symbolizing a “comfort woman” in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul.

The Italy-Libya treaty includes the terms, such as “apology” and “regret,” which are missing the 1965 Treaty on Basic Relations between Republic of Korea and Japan signed in 1965 under which Tokyo paid $800 million in grants and soft loans.

Lee argues that Korea and Japan should sign another bilateral pact that acknowledges Tokyo’s legal responsibilities for its wrongdoings committed during the colonial occupation of the Korean Peninsula and additional compensation for individual victims.

“Japan has yet to completely resolve its colonial liability, including for claims made by individual victims, such as Korean comfort women and forced Korean labors to whom Japanese companies owe $5 billion in unpaid wages,” he said.

“Unlike Italy, Japan maintains that the colonial occupation of Korea might have been morally wrong, but it was legal.”

He said if Japan refuses to make a new bilateral pact, it should at least agree to add new clauses to the 1965 treaty in order to take responsibility for illicit acts involved in the colonization.

Lee estimates that the Japanese government and companies, such as Mitsubishi, have yet to pay back 6.024 trillion won ($5.2 billion) to conscripted Korean workers who were forced to make deposits to fund Japan’s military.

“I believe true patriots in Japan are the ones who have the courage to make an apology and offer compensation for the innocent victims of their colonial atrocities,” he said.

“Distrust between Korea and Japan will continue to linger and hamper the bilateral ties unless Tokyo plucks up the courage to admit its distortion of history and take responsibility for its past.”

The professor is expected to present a related paper at an academic conference organized by the state-run Northeast Asia History Foundation (NAHF), Friday.

leeth@koreatimes.co.kr

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