Court rules in favor of Justice Ministry in case against descendants of pro-Japanese figure during Japanese colonial rule
The Justice Ministry said Monday that it won a lawsuit to recover property and proceeds worth about 2.7 billion won ($2.01 million) from the descendants of Shin Woo-sun, a pro-Japanese collaborator during Japan's colonial rule of Korea.
The Goyang branch of the Uijeongbu District Court ruled Thursday in favor of the government in a lawsuit over 14 plots of land in Ilsandong-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi Province, that Shin acquired through land assessments in 1913 and 1917.
Shin's descendants sold 13 of the plots between 1993 and 2005 for around 2.43 billion won in total. The government sought to recover the proceeds along with the remaining plot, valued at about 270 million won.
Shin served as a vice councilor of the Central Advisory Council under the Japanese Government-General of Korea and received decorations from the Japanese government, including the Korea Annexation Commemorative Medal and the Taisho Enthronement Commemorative Medal.
The ministry said the ruling reaffirmed that the government can recover proceeds from pro-Japanese property that was sold to third parties before the law on the Devolvement of Pro-Japanese Collaborator's Property took effect in 2005.
The court also rejected the descendants' argument that the government's claim had expired under the statute of limitations, ruling that invoking the limitation period constituted an abuse of rights, according to the ministry.
"The ruling will serve as an important milestone for the property recovery work of the second Pro-Japanese Collaborators' Property Investigation Committee, which will launch Dec. 3," acting Justice Minister Lee Jin-soo said.
shwang9@heraldcorp.com