Foreign Ministry reconfirms illegality of Japan's 1910 annexation of Korea

South Korea's Foreign Ministry reaffirmed on Friday that Japan's claim to sovereignty over Korea and annexation in 1910 was illegal, stating that it was "fundamentally null and void."

Lee Jong-chan, chair of the Heritage of Korean Independence, speaks during a Liberation Day commemoration at the Kim Koo Museum & Library in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on Aug. 15. [NEWS1]

South Korea's Foreign Ministry reaffirmed on Friday that Japan's claim to sovereignty over Korea and annexation in 1910 was illegal, stating that it was "fundamentally null and void." This was in response to a request by the Heritage of Korean Independence (HKI) to clarify the Korean government’s position on the matter.

The clarification came amid controversy over the appointment of the new head of the Independence Hall of Korea.

“Our government’s position on Article 2 of the Treaty of Basic Relations between the Republic of Korea and Japan can be confirmed in the ‘Commentary on Treaties and Agreements between the Republic of Korea and Japan’ published by the Korean government on July 5, 1965,” said a Foreign Ministry official Friday.

The Treaty of Basic Relations between the Republic of Korea and Japan, signed on June 22, 1965, normalized bilateral relations between the two countries.

Article 2 of the treaty states that “all treaties and agreements concluded between Korea and Japan on or before Aug. 22, 1910 are invalid.”

According to the Foreign Ministry, the 1965 commentary explains that “all agreements between the so-called Korea-Japan Annexation Treaty and all treaties, agreements, protocols, and other documents of agreement between the two countries, regardless of their name, are already invalid.”

In addition, regarding the time of invalidation, the commentary's use of the word "already" meant that the annexation treaty and other documents were null from the beginning, "so there is no need to say that it is retroactively invalid.”

“We have consistently maintained the position that the Korea-Japan Annexation Treaty was forcibly concluded against the will of our people and therefore is fundamentally invalid, and this will not change in the future,” the Foreign Ministry official said based on this reading of the commentary. “We delivered a letter along these lines to the Heritage of Korean Independence today.”

The HKI, a state-funded association of independence fighters and their descendants, sent a letter to Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul on Thursday, urging him to “state the government’s position on whether the infringement of national sovereignty by Japanese imperialism was illegal and invalid.”

The letter came amid strong public opposition from Lee Jong-chan, a veteran politician and the chair of the HKI, to 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.

Critics contend that some of Kim's previous remarks, which include his claim that South Korea was established in 1948, may point to a shift in favor of Aug. 15, 1948, being recognized as the nation's foundation day.

In South Korea, this date has been the focus of an ongoing ideological discussion. Some claim that April 11, 1919, the day a temporary government was founded during Japan's colonial rule, should be acknowledged as the country's establishment.

The HKI released a statement on Sunday following the Foreign Ministry’s response, welcoming the clarification.

“The government has consistently responded passively and vaguely to the controversy over the national foundation day, but this time, the Foreign Ministry has officially confirmed the nullity of Japanese colonial rule, thereby clarifying the legitimacy and identity of the Republic of Korea,” the HKI said in a statement. “We hope that the presidential office will take corresponding measures that the people can trust. The appointment of Kim, who claimed that our peoples’ nationality was Japanese during the colonial period, which is at odds with the Foreign Ministry’s position, should be withdrawn immediately.”

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]