Gov't wins first-round suit to reclaim W2.7b from pro-Japanese collaborator's heirs

The government has won a first-instance court ruling in its lawsuit seeking the return of 2.7 billion won ($2.02 million) in land and sale proceeds from the descendants of Shin Woo-seon (1873–1943), a pro-Japanese collaborator.

According to the Ministry of Justice, the Goyang Branch of Uijeongbu District Court ruled entirely in the government's favor Thursday in a suit against Shin's descendants seeking the return of proceeds from the sale of pro-Japanese assets and the transfer of ownership registration.

Shin served as a vice-councilor at the Joseon Government-General's Central Advisory Council, the colonial administrative body under Japanese rule, and received the Korea Annexation Commemorative Medal and the Taisho Imperial Enthronement Commemorative Medal from the Japanese government.

Earlier, the Ministry of Justice had determined that 13 of the 14 plots of land in Ilsandong-gu, Goyang, Gyeonggi Province — which Shin acquired ownership of in 1913 and 1917 — had been sold between 1993 and 2005.

In January, the ministry filed a lawsuit against Shin's descendants seeking to recover 2.43 billion won in sale proceeds and one remaining plot of land valued at around 270 million won based on the official land price.

The court ruled that the state may seek the return of proceeds from pro-Japanese assets that had already been transferred to third parties before the Pro-Japanese Assets Reversion Act took effect in 2005.

The descendants argued that the state's right to claim unjust enrichment had lapsed under the five-year statute of limitations set by the National Finance Act, but the court rejected the argument, saying it constituted "an abuse of rights contrary to the principle of good faith."

Lee Jin-su, acting minister of justice, said the ruling "will serve as an important milestone for the asset recovery work of the second-term Pro-Japanese Assets Investigation Committee, which will be launched on Dec. 3," adding that the ministry would "make every effort to ensure the committee gets off to a successful start."

Meanwhile, under the Special Act on the State Reversion of Assets of Pro-Japanese Collaborators, property acquired in exchange for collaborating with Japan from the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War in February 1904 through Aug. 15, 1945, is subject to state reversion. However, when a third party has already acquired such assets by paying fair value, the state may recover the sale proceeds as unjust enrichment from the person who disposed of them.