Korea truth commission opens first ex officio probe into Korean-Japanese abuse cases
In short
South Korea's Truth and Reconciliation Commission decided on Oct 7 to open its first ex officio investigation into alleged human rights violations against Korean residents in Japan, covering 33 finalised cases and 69 co-defendants. Investigators say the 69 were held without warrants for between 3 and 143 days by agencies including the KCIA and the Defence Security Command. The same meeting approved opening investigations into 932 cases in total.
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South Korea's Truth and Reconciliation Commission decided at its sixth plenary meeting on Oct 7 to open its first ex officio investigation into the case of human rights violations against Korean residents in Japan, Yonhap and NoCut News reported. The investigation covers 33 cases in which final convictions were handed down under the National Security Act and related laws, involving 69 co-defendants including joint defendants, the outlets said. Newsis also reported the 33 cases and the first-of-its-kind ex officio investigation, though the body of its article dealt with a rocket launch instead of the decision. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
The meeting was held at the commission's hall in Jung-gu, Seoul, according to NoCut News. The commission said the case did not remain a matter of individual harm: families suffered for a long time under the social stigma of being relatives of spies and faced severe suffering and ostracism both inside the Korean residents' community in Japan and from Japanese society. [ 2 , 3 ]
According to investigation and trial records, the 69 people named in the probe were held illegally for periods of 3 to 143 days, the commission said. Korean residents in Japan, who had little knowledge of domestic conditions and few local connections and were therefore vulnerable in criminal proceedings, were taken in without warrants by agencies including the KCIA and the Defence Security Command and questioned in long-term illegal detention, the commission said. Koreans who had gone to Japan to study, work or visit relatives and returned home were also investigated under the National Security Act and the Anti-Communist Act, according to Yonhap. [ 2 , 3 ]
The commission said it recognised the need to establish the truth about the abuses committed by past authoritarian governments, to reflect socially on the errors of state violence and to seek practical recovery of damage, including restoring the victims' honour. Yonhap and NoCut News reported that individual Korean residents in Japan cases had been handled by the commission before, but that this was the first ex officio investigation. NoCut News said the second-term commission issued truth-finding decisions for 11 victims whose cases were completed, and that the third-term commission opened investigations on July 21 into Korean residents in Japan cases the second term had not finished. [ 2 , 3 ]
At the same meeting, the commission decided to open investigations into 932 cases in total, the outlets reported. Those included 41 cases concerning the anti-Japanese independence movement and civilian victims around the Korean War, and 772 human rights violations from after liberation until the National Human Rights Commission was established, among them the 1980s crackdown on the Cheonggye garment union. A further 119 cases concerned human rights violations in collective detention facilities and overseas adoption, including cases at the Seoul Municipal Rehabilitation Centre, the Seoul Municipal Children's Home, the Daejeon Municipal Children's Home and the Oryu Childcare Centre. [ 2 , 3 ]
Why it matters
The decision extends state-accountability work to abuses against Koreans living in Japan and their families, a group the commission says faced stigmatisation in both Korean and Japanese society. It also adds 932 older cases, including detention-facility and overseas-adoption cases, to the commission's workload, so the practical results will depend on how far the investigations proceed.
Key facts
- The Truth and Reconciliation Commission decided at its sixth plenary meeting to open its first ex officio investigation into the Korean residents in Japan human rights violations case. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- The investigation covers 33 cases with final convictions under the National Security Act and related laws, involving 69 co-defendants. [ 2 , 3 ]
- Records show the 69 people were illegally detained for periods ranging from 3 to 143 days, according to the commission. [ 2 , 3 ]
- The commission said suspects were taken in without warrants by the KCIA and the Defence Security Command and questioned in long-term illegal detention. [ 2 , 3 ]
- The same meeting approved opening investigations into 932 cases in total, including 41 on the anti-Japanese independence movement and civilian victims around the Korean War and 772 on human rights violations before the National Human Rights Commission was set up. [ 2 , 3 ]
- The second-term commission found the truth in the cases of 11 victims whose investigations were completed, and the third-term commission opened investigations on July 21 into cases the second term had not finished. [ 3 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- The Truth and Reconciliation Commission decided to open its first ex officio investigation into the Korean residents in Japan human rights violations case. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- The probe covers 33 cases with final convictions and 69 co-defendants, according to the commission. [ 2 , 3 ]
- Investigation and trial records show illegal detention of between 3 and 143 days in the cases covered. [ 2 , 3 ]
- At the same meeting the commission decided to open investigations into 932 cases in total. [ 2 , 3 ]
Still unclear
- Whether the investigation will lead to compensation or other material redress for the victims. The documents state the commission's stated aims of social reflection and the restoration of victims' honour, but do not describe any compensation measure.
- The identities and individual circumstances of the 69 people covered by the investigation. The documents give aggregate numbers and the pattern of detention, not case-by-case detail.
- Why the Newsis report carries a headline about the commission decision while its article text concerns a Nuri rocket satellite launch. The documents do not explain the mismatch, so the Newsis item supports only the headline fact.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- Newsis publishes its report titled on the commission's first ex officio investigation into 33 Korean residents in Japan human rights cases. [ 1 ]
- Yonhap reports the commission's decision, naming the 33 cases and 69 co-defendants. [ 2 ]
- NoCut News reports the decision and the broader list of 932 cases opened at the same meeting. [ 3 ]