YONHAP NEWS

(LEAD) Seoul to sell off land seized from Japan collaborators

   SEOUL, March 29 (Yonhap) -- The government plans to sell over 12 billion won (US$12 million) worth of land seized from the families of Koreans who collaborated with the Japanese colonial government in early 20th century, officials said Saturday.

   The money generated from the sale will be used to finance the government's new scholarship and pension programs for the descendants of anti-Japanese independence fighters, officials from the Patriots and Veterans Affairs Agency said in a policy report to President Lee Myung-bak.

   The president said the foremost duty of the government is to protect the lives and assets of the people but stressed that honoring those who sacrificed their lives while defending the country was important as well.

   "Who would ever sacrifice their lives for the country if those who defended our nation are left unable to provide education to their descendants and those who fought for the country's independence do not receive their well-deserved respect and recognition," he said.

   The government has won back over 30 billion won worth of real estate and properties from the families of former collaborators of the Japanese colonial rule, but nearly 18 billion won worth of land are still in legal battle.

   Japan ruled the Korean Peninsula as a colony from 1910 through 1945.

   "The agency will dispose of part of the land this year and use the created fund to provide scholarships to the descendants of independence fighters and pay settlement fees for the families of independence fighters who come to the country," the agency said.

   Many independence fighters were forced to flee the country during the Japanese colonial rule, and today many of their descendants live in various parts of the region, including some Eastern European nations and Russia's Far Eastern region of Sakhalin.

   bdk@yna.co.kr
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