hankyoreh

A government commission announced Sunday that it has decided to classify 83 Koreans, convicted as "Class B" and "Class C" war criminals by Allied nations following World War II, as victims of Japanese colonialism.

The Truth Commission on Forced Mobilization under Japanese Imperialism said that 86 men or their families, who worked as guards at Japanese prisoner-of-war camps and were later convicted as Class B or C war criminals, petitioned to have their cases reviewed. On Sunday, the commission said it had reviewed all of the cases and determined that 83 of the 86 should instead be considered victims of colonial rule.

The classification of war criminals into classes A, B, and C was developed by the Tokyo War Tribunal following the close of World War II. Persons found guilty of instigating or otherwise leading the Japanese war effort were classified as "Class A"; this group included Japan’s wartime prime minister Hideki Tojo. Class B and C war criminals were classified as such because of their rank in the Japanese military or for committing other acts during the war.

Following the war, these men either served prison terms or were executed.

Explaining the rationale for its findings, the commission said that the 83 men suffered "double hardship" for first being forcibly conscripted by the Japanese and then later forced to bear criminal responsibility for Japanese abuses against Allied POWs.

"We reviewed records on 15 of these men found in the British national archives," said commission head Yi Se-il. "We discovered that they were found guilty without any clear evidence."

Of the 148 Koreans convicted for war crimes by Allied nations, 23 were executed. The families of 12 of these men were among those that filed petitions with the commission; it was not determined whether all 12 were among the 83 out of 86 cases pardoned by the government.

"Koreans convicted as Class B and C war criminals can be considered victims of a Japanese attempt to shift responsibility for the war," said a commission official. "However, Koreans who served voluntarily as Japanese officers or military police will be difficult to recognize as victims."

[englishhani@hani.co.kr]