Basic Principle in SCAP

(First Conference, June 10.1949)

 

RESUME

 

1. SCAP has located and returned to Korea 20 vessels. Three of them were owned by the former government of Korea and 17 were sent pursuant to USAMGIK allegation that they were subject to the terms of the vesting decree.
2. SCAP has located one more vessel owned by the former Government of Korea which will be returned to Korea upon completion of repair work.
3. SCAP has located 32 vessels in Japan which have been requested by Korea and which were afloat in Japanese waters. These vessels will be returned to Korea at such time as the Korean Government furnishes proof that these vessels were in Korean waters on or after 9 August 1945 without SCAP authorization and thus subject to the Korean Vesting Decree.
4. SCAP has found 25 vessels which are in wrecked or sunken condition in Japanese waters or in the vicinity of Okinawa or Formosa.
5. The remainder of vessels requested by Korea have not been located. The Japanese Government has investigated their whereabouts and reports that the information furnished by Korea is insufficient to continue future search. More detailed description and information has been requested from Korea and is required to initiate further investigation and search.
6. It is expected that the five vessels now in Korean waters which were sent to Korea by SCAP at the request of the CG, USAMGIK for emergency operation in Korea will be returned to Japan.
7. The Japanese Government has petitioned SCAP to request return from Korea to Japan of 79 fishing vessels which the Japanese Government claims were seized by Koreans in Japan after the occupation of Japan and sailed to Korea and thereafter either vested or confiscated by the Korean authorities.
8. The Japanese Government has also petitioned SCAP to request the return of 31 fishing vessels which were seized by Koreans in Japan after the occupation and sold by the Japanese to the Koreans under fraud or duress exercised by the Koreans and sailed to Korea.
Korean ships and fishing vessels will be returned to the Government of Korea by SCAP on the basis of the following principles received from Washington:
a. Actual ownership of vessels will determine their final disposition in accordance with the following categories:
1) lf owned directly by a South Korean corporation in which the Japanese interest was less than 10 per cent, vessels will be returned to Korea
(none such vessels have been requested nor located in Japan)
2) If owned by the former Government of Korea or by a private person now resident in South Korea, vessels will be returned to Korea
(Four government-owned vessels have been located in Japan. Three of these have been returned and the fourth is undergoing repair prior to being returned)
3) If owned by a South Korean corporation in which the Japanese interest was 10 per cent or more, vessels will remain in Japan unless they are in Korea on or after 9 August 1945 without SCAP authorization.
b. The date of 9 August 1945 will be taken as the effective date for determination of the operation of the vesting decree (USAMGIK Ordinance No.33) with respect to ambulatory property, i.e. ships and fishing vessels. The Korean Vesting Decree issued by USAMGIK RECOGNIZES THE RIGHT TO VEST all property in Korea belonging to the Japanese Government and Japanese nationals which was located in Korea on or after 9 August 1945.
c. The Korean Vesting Decree will not apply in the case of vessels determined to be Japanese owned entering Korea after 9 August 1945 under special arrangement between SCAP and Korean authorities or under authorization of SCAP unless such vessels were in Korean waters on and after 9 August 1945 without SCAP authorization or prior to special arrangement.