Seoul reaffirms Japan’s colonial rule ‘null and void’ amid history controversy

The foreign ministry reaffirmed Friday that Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of Korea is "fundamentally null and void" amid the controversy over the appointment of the new chief of the national history museum on independence fighters. The ministry restated its official stance on Japan's colonization period in a letter to The Heritage of Korean Independence (HKI), a state-funded association of independence fighters and their descendants, in response to its request. Lee Jong-chan, a veteran politician and the HKI chair, has vehemently opposed President Yoon Suk Yeol's appointment of Kim Hyoung-suk as the new president of the Independence Hall of Korea, citing concerns over Kim's alleged pro-Japanese views and calling for the appointment to be withdrawn. Critics argue that Kim's past statements, including his assertion that South Korea was founded in 1948, might indicate a move toward designating August 15, 1948, as the national foundation day. This date has been a subject of ongoing ideological debate in Sout h Korea, with others asserting that the country's foundation should be recognized as April 11, 1919, when a provisional government was established during Japan's colonial rule. Lee Jong-chan, chair of The Heritage of Korean Independence (HKI), a state-funded association of independence fighters and their descendants, speaks during a discussion session at the HKI building in Seoul on Aug. 21, 2024. (Yonhap) Lee Jong-chan, chair of The Heritage of Korean Independence (HKI), a state-funded association of independence fighters and their descendants, speaks during a discussion session at the HKI building in Seoul on Aug. 21, 2024. (Yonhap) The ministry said it sent a reply to the HKI reaffirming the government position on the Japan-Korea annexation treaty signed in 1910, as confirmed in Article 2 of the 1965 treaty that normalized bilateral relations with Japan. "All treaties, agreements, protocols and other documents, regardless of their names, that were concluded between Korea and Japan, are all null and voi d," a ministry official said. The government has maintained that the 1910 treaty and other agreements never had any legal effect from the start, as they were forcibly signed against the will of the people, meaning they were "already" null and void from the beginning. "There is no need to argue about their retroactive invalidity," the official said. The HKI welcomed the foreign ministry's response and reiterated its call for Yoon to retract Kim's appointment, arguing that the ministry had "clarified the legitimacy and identity" of South Korea. "We expect the presidential office to take actions that the public can trust. The appointment of Kim Hyoung-suk... who argued that our nationality was Japanese during the Japanese occupation, must be withdrawn now," it said. Source: Yonhap News Agency