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Group unveils list of alleged pro-Japanese collaborators
SEOUL, Nov. 8 (Yonhap) -- A group of South Korean scholars on Sunday unveiled a list of about 4,300 people that they say collaborated with Japan during its colonization of the Korean Peninsula in the early half of the 20th century, a divisive issue centered on anti-Japanese sentiment here.
The list includes former South Korean President Park Chung-hee, who served as an officer in Japan's imperial army during the 1910-45 period but is credited with South Korea's rise from poverty following the Korean War.
Ahn Eak-tai, who created South Korea's national anthem, and Choi Seung-hee, a legendary dancer, are also among the 4,389 people listed in the three-volume, 3,000-page publication, the group said.
The list, which started to be compiled in 1994, has been the subject of intense criticism from conservatives, who have branded it as a historical distortion engineered by leftists.
The Korean Peninsula was annexed by Japan in 1910 but liberated at the end of World War II. Liberals here believe that Korean collaborators helped exploit their compatriots and even root out the independence movement during the colonial period.
The collaborators then managed to avoid being purged under the U.S. military that replaced the Japanese rule as Washington needed them to counter the threat of communist-led North Korea, they say.
Many South Koreans believe Japan has yet to fully apologize for its acts during the colonial period, including the sexual enslavement of Korean women at front-line brothels and harsh labor forced upon men.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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