“Looking at Legitimacy and Illegitimacy from a Historical Perspective,” Sekai 681 (November 2000)

Two years ago, Professor Yi Taejin prompted our discussions of\n\nthe old treaties between Korea and Japan by arguing that, legally\n\nspeaking, the annexation never came into being. The surrounding\n\ncircumstances have dramatically changed since then. The outlook\n\nfor ending the confrontation between South Korea and North\n\nKorea became much brighter after their summit conference took\n\nplace in June 2000. Consequently, Japan resumed negotiations to\n\nopen diplomatic relationships with North Korea, and its Prime\n\nMinister Mori expressed to the Diet his desire to “resolve\n\nhistorical issues.” (August 1, Upper House).\n\nOne of the most important issues of the past concerns the\n\nnullification of the annexation treaty of August 1910 and other\n\nprior treaties confirmed by Article II of the Korean-Japanese\n\nTreaty of 1965. Although it was not clearly expressed in the\n\nArticle, the two countries disagreed on the timing of nullification.\n\nThe Koreans maintained that the treaties had never been valid\n\nfrom the time of signing, by challenging the fundamental\n\nlawfulness of Japan’s colonial rule over Korea. The Japanese\n\nargued that they had been valid until August 15, 1948, when the Republic of Korea was inaugurated, based on their view that the\n\ntreaties were signed legally and effectively. If we are sincerely to\n\naddress and resolve the historical issues that Mori mentioned, we\n\nhave no choice but to tackle this issue. Our discussions must\n\nresult in the Japanese government's reconsideration and alteration\n\nof its official views...