Can Korea seize Ha Young's family wealth under pro-Japanese asset recovery law?
As controversy swirls around actor Ha Young's great-grandfather's pro-Japanese past, Korea's Investigative Commission on Pro-Japanese Collaborators' Property will restart operations this December after a 16-year hiatus — raising the question of whether her family's assets could be among those examined and seized. The commission's reactivation follows the scheduled enforcement of the Special Act…
Actor Ha Young's great-grandfather's pro-Japanese past has sparked controversy, potentially leading to the resumption of the Investigative Commission on Pro-Japanese Collaborators' Property operations in December. This comes after the scheduled enforcement of the Special Act on Asset Confiscation for Pro-Japanese and Anti-National Collaborators, which went into effect on December 3.
The law aims to target wealth and property amassed illegally through collaboration with Japan during the 1910-1945 occupation of Korea. However, former head of the Independence Hall of Korea, Lee Jun-sik, remains uncertain about the extent of property that could be recovered by the second commission. He stated that it is unclear how much property the commission will be able to recover, as most of the property owned by collaborators has already passed to third parties.
Recovering assets is challenging due to the passage of ownership to third parties, making it difficult to trace the origins of the wealth. A farmland, for instance, is mentioned as a potential asset that may have already been transferred to someone else. Despite these challenges, the commission's reactivation raises questions about whether Ha Young's family assets could be among those examined and potentially seized under the new law.
Written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
