CONFIDENTIAL
JAPAN-KOREA CONFERENCE
Summary Record of the Third Session of the Basic Relations Committee
1. Date, time and place:
February 29 (Friday), 1952 10:15 hours-11:50 hours
At Room No. 419, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
2. Conferees:
All committee members of both Delegations except Mr. FUJISAKI, Mr. USHIROKU, Mr. YIU Tai Ha and Mr. CHOI Kyu Ha were present.
3. Proceedings:
(1) In continuation of the proceedings of the preceding session, the Korean Delegation raised additional questions and expressed opinions on the Draft Treaty of Amity, and the Japanese Delegation gave its answers and opinions. The main points of these questions and answers and opinions of both Delegations were as the following:
a. As to Article 4 (affirmation of nationality, etc.), the Korean Delegation desired to reserve the inclusion of this article until an agreement in principle was reached at the committee for the question of nationality and treatment, and further stated that the clerical corrections previously proposed by the Japanese Delegation to Articles 4 and 5 would not be necessary, because the affirmation would only be necessary for Koreans residing in Japan and that the Korean Delegation would prefer “August 9th, 1945” to “September 2nd, 1945.” In conclusion, both Delegations agreed to leave Articles 4 and 5 undecided for the time being.
b. As to Article 6 (property and claims), the Korean Delegation proposed either to include provisions of paragraph (b) of Article 4 of the San Francisco Peace Treaty, or to drop this whole article from the draft untill an agreement is reached at the claims committee, while the Japanese Delegation explained that it had no intention of neglecting paragraph (b) of the said Article 4, that the words “in a spirit of concord and in accordance with principles of justice and equity” should be taken literally, and that such provisions should be included in a treaty of amity.
c. In connection with the above points, the Korean Delegation stated that, as the Korean demands were not so much, in amount, Japan should not assume that there would be a long period of discussion on this matter, but should return the property as soon as possible, solving outstanding problems prior to entering into a new relationship with the Republic of Korea. The Japanese Delegation stated that it was in the same position as the Korean Delegation in hoping to establish good neighborly relationship “not in words but through action,” and that it especially expected good influences over discussions in the sub-committees, if the guiding principles could be agreed upon by both Delegations, and a Treaty of Amity was concluded at an early date.
d. As to Article 7 (division of submarine cables), the Korean Delegation agreed to have such provisions in the treaty, stating that no sub-committee had been established for this matter.
e. As to Article 8 (fisheries matters), both Delegations exchanged their opinions on the problem of fisheries, and they both agreed to include such provisions in the treaty if these principles were agreed upon by both sides in the Fisheries Committee.
f. The Japanese Delegation asked the Korean Delegation if the latter thought that a treaty of amity might not be concluded until the last stage of the present Conference. The Korean Delegation replied that it had no objection to an early conclusion of the said treaty, believing, however, that the outstanding, substantial problems should be solved, prior to the conclusion of a treaty on basic relations between the two countries.
(2) It was decided that the next (fourth) session of this committee should be convened from 10:00 hours, March 5th (Wednesday), 1952.
END