"Since Korea Is Better Off Than Us, Return Japanese Colonial-Era Assets": Japanese Professor's Outrageous Remark Sparks Controversy

Calls for Return of Vested Property from Japan's Colonial Rule
"Property Rights Violated at War's End... A Violation of International Law"

A professor emeritus at a prestigious Japanese university has sparked controversy by arguing that Japan and Japanese nationals should be given back property they owned in Korea during Japan's colonial rule, on the grounds that South Korea has become wealthy.

On October 13 (local time), Arima Tetsuo, professor emeritus at Waseda University's Faculty of Social Sciences, raised the issue of what should be done with property owned by Japanese nationals that remained on the Korean Peninsula. The assets had been purchased by Japanese people who came to the peninsula during Japan's colonial rule, but were returned during the process of independence after Japan's defeat in World War II.

A post by Arima Tetsuo, professor emeritus at Waseda University in Japan, on X. Screenshot from X.

Arima said, "Isn't it unfair not to mention this fact? After the war ended, assets held by Japan and Japanese nationals were given to local Koreans free of charge by the United States." He added, "This violated international law, which says that property rights must not be infringed upon because of war."

Arima also referred to the 1965 Korea-Japan Claims Agreement, saying, "Japan provided South Korea with economic aid and loans on a scale comparable to the country's national budget at the time."

"Personally, since South Korea has become wealthier than Japan, I would like a new agreement to be concluded and the assets that Japan and Japanese nationals owned until the end of the war, the so-called 'vested property,' to be returned to Japan and Japanese nationals," he said. The vested property Arima referred to means Japanese assets left on the Korean Peninsula after liberation.

The assets had already been transferred to the South Korean government following a postwar legal review. In December 1945, the U.S. military government took possession of Japanese assets on the Korean Peninsula under Ordinance No. 33, and the assets were transferred to the South Korean government in 1948.

Meanwhile, Arima's post spread online, prompting heated debate among internet users. South Korean users in particular criticized the claim, saying, "This is an absurd argument" and "It's like claiming that stolen assets were stolen from you."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.