Gov't wins $2 million asset recovery case against pro-Japanese collaborator's heirs

The Korean government has won a lawsuit against the descendants of a pro-Japanese collaborator during Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of Korea, seeking to recover land and proceeds from its sale worth a combined 2.7 billion won ($2 million), officials said Monday.

The Goyang branch of the Uijeongbu District Court on Thursday ruled in the government's favor in a lawsuit seeking the return of "unjust proceeds" from the sale of assets by a pro-Japanese collaborator and the transfer of land ownership, according to the Ministry of Justice.

The court ruled that the government is entitled to seek the return of proceeds from pro-Japan collaborators' assets even if the assets had been transferred to third parties before 2005, when the law mandating the reversion of pro-Japanese collaborators' property to the state was enacted.

The figure in question, Shin Woo-sun, served as a vice councilor at the Japanese colonial government's advisory body and received honorary medals from the then Japanese government.

The ministry filed the lawsuit in January, seeking to recover 2.43 billion won from the sale of the assets and a parcel of land valued at about 270 million won based on its officially assessed land price.

Yonhap