TS-910627

EDITORIAL

JAPAN TIMES, JUNE 11, 1958

Koreans in Japan.
The status of Koreans in Japan which is now under discussion by the Legal Status Committee of the Japan-Republic of Korea Conference on the normalization of relations, has long been a vexed question.
Reports indicate that there are about 600,000 Koreans in Japan, but the figure May be higher as it is believed that a number of Koreans have taken on Japanese names and become more or less assimilated.
The Committee which is discussing the status of Koreans here is one of four committees set up on May 6, subsequent to the opening of the normalization talks between the two countries on April 15. It has a task quite as important as the other committees which are confronted with such problems as the Rhee Line.
The Release of Detainees and Diplomatic Issues.
Little progress on the question of Koreans here was hitherto been possible owing to the unfriendly relations existing between Japan and the Republic of Korea, but lately there has been considerable change in the atmosphere.
The visit to Korea last month of Prime Minister Kishi's personal envoy, Mr. Kazuo Yatugi, is believed to have helped to bring this about. His reception by ROK President Syngman Rhee is not to be regarded so much as a change in Korean Government policy but rather as indicating a change of spirit and an expression of willingness to try co come to friendly terms with Japan despite the recollections of the past still harbored in top Korean official circles.
It is understood that negotiations, so far as these affect the legal status of Koreans living in Japan, will deal mostly with the position of Korean nationals who came to Japan before the end of World War II and are still residing here and the problems that have arisen in connection with them since they became aliens following the effectuation of the San Francisco Peace Treaty in April 1952.
South Korea is desirous of getting Japan to grant them special status because of the peculiar circumstances under which they came to live in this country. Japan is willing to differentiate these Koreans from aliens in general but would like to limit the scope of special exceptions to a minimum.
It would seem likely that there are a large number of Koreans here who would do better to return to their own country, but, as they have been living in Japan a long time and have local ties there, it is difficult to devise a plan that would be fair to all. There is also the question of their children born in Japan.
The Existence in Japan of a Large Bloc of People who Must be Regarded as Ipso Facto Undesirable.
The existence in Japan of a large bloc of people who must be regarded as aliens, and having alien connections, must be regarded as ipso facto undesirable, but the problem is to reach an arrangement which would not inflict injustice on anyone.
Perhaps, the best solution would be an agreed plan by which the Koreans could be divided into three categories -- those who might be permitted to stay under some "special status," perhaps of a temporary nature, and those who should be encouraged to return to Korea which should be asked to make adequate arrangements to receive them.