[Exclusive] Resumption of Pro-Japanese Property Forfeiture... Partial Recovery of Land Owned by Top 1% Kim Han-gyu

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The government has newly recovered a portion of the land owned by Kim Han-gyu, a pro-Japanese collaborator ranked in the top 1% during the Japanese colonial period. Lawsuits to recover pro-Japanese assets, which had stalled during the previous administration, have resumed, leading to this second successful recovery. However, this represents only a tiny fraction of the total assets held by pro-Japanese collaborators, and significant challenges lie ahead.
Reporter Yeo Do-hyeon reports.
[Reporter]
This is the "List of Korean Meritorious Persons," compiled by the Japanese Governor-General's Office to list those who cooperated with Japanese rule.
It contains detailed lists of Korean pro-Japanese collaborators and their activities; regarding the collaborator Kim Han-gyu, it states he "serves as a model for youth."
Kim Han-gyu was an individual who even served as a counselor for the "Jungchuwon" (Privy Council), an advisory body to the Governor-General.
[Bang Hak-jin / Secretary General of the Institute for Research in Contemporary History: It was known as a gathering place for heavyweight pro-Japanese collaborators such as Lee Wan-yong, Park Young-hyo, Song Byeong-jun, and Kwon Jung-hyeon. After liberation, members of the Special Committee for Investigation of Anti-National Activities (Banmin Teukwi) targeted those from the Privy Council for severe punishment, including up to 10 years in prison and the total or partial confiscation of assets.]
According to JTBC's investigation, the Ministry of Justice successfully recovered assets from the descendants of the pro-Japanese collaborator Kim Han-gyu this past July.
This is the land belonging to Kim Han-gyu that was recovered this time.
It is a forest area located in Daejeon.
Crops are growing, and there is thick brush in the back.
There is also a road right in front of it.
The total area is approximately 189 pyeong, valued at about 53 million won.
Compared to how the Governor-General's Office referred to him as a wealthy man of Joseon, and the fact that he was actually listed among Joseon's asset holders with over 500,000 yen at the time, the recovered property is an extremely small portion.
Although the lawsuits to recover pro-Japanese assets, which were suspended under the previous administration, have resumed under the Lee Jae-myung administration,
[August 13, 2025: Please also look into the issue of recovering pro-Japanese assets separately.]
It is difficult to locate all total assets and to prove that the assets were acquired as compensation for pro-Japanese activities.
[Kim Dong-ah / Member of the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee: We must track down not only the already revealed assets but also the undiscovered ones until the very end. (Including liquidated assets) We must closely trace them and, if there are assets formed unfairly, find and recover them to the end.]
The second Pro-Japanese Property Investigation Committee, launching in December, may be able to recover assets that descendants have liquidated into cash by selling land, but the procedure is not simple, and resistance from descendants is expected.