아시아 10/08/11 Japanese colonial rule of Korea was ‘invalid’ - By Paul Hwang, Seoul

[성기화 요셉]

Japanese colonial rule of Korea was ‘invalid’

Published Date: August 11, 2010

By Paul Hwang, Seoul

Korean actors put on a play about ‘comfort women’ (file photo). Church bodies want the Japanese government to give due compensation to these women.

Protestant Church bodies in South Korea and Japan have issued a joint statement declaring that “the Japan-Korea annexation treaty was originally invalid.”

The National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK) and the National Christian Council in Japan issued the statement to mark the centenary of Japan’s annexation of Korea on Aug. 29, 1910.

The NCCK released the statement on Aug. 10.

Both councils say they want their national parliaments to declare the treaty and Japan’s 35-year colonial rule of Korea as invalid and illegal.

The Church bodies also urged the Japanese government to review related laws to enable victims of its colonial rule, including “comfort women,” to get due compensation.

“The Japanese government should guarantee the permanent residency of Korean residents in Japan [or Jainichi] and their legal rights as a minority people because they were forced to move to Japan,” the statement also said.

The Church councils said that since Japan was responsible for the division of the Korean Peninsular, the Japanese government should provide compensation and establish diplomatic ties with North Korea.

Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan issued a statement on Aug. 10 stating that his country’s colonial rule “took place against the will of Koreans at the time, under political and military conditions.”

However, he did not say the Japan-Korea annexation treaty or Japanese colonial rule were illegal.