Justice Ministry Pre-Announces Decree to Seize Pro-Japanese…

The Ministry of Justice pre-announced on 14 October 2026 the enforcement decree of the Special Act on the State Attribution of Property of Pro-Japanese Anti-National Collaborators, opening a public comment period that runs until 13 November 2026. The draft sets up the Investigation Committee on Pro-Japanese Collaborators’ Property, lays down seizure and preservation procedures, and creates rewards of up to 50 million won for informants. The announcement was published as Ministry of Justice Public Notice No. 2026-412 in the Official Gazette No. 21339, page 78.

The parent act and its purpose

The decree implements Act No. 21727, promulgated on 2 June 2026 and entering into force on 3 December 2026. Its stated purpose is to attribute to the State property accumulated through pro-Japanese anti-national acts, “to realise justice, restore the national spirit and give effect to the constitutional ideal of the March 1st Movement” against Japanese imperialism. The pre-announcement is made under Article 41 of the Administrative Procedures Act, and the notice is signed by the Minister of Justice.

State attribution and rights preservation

Articles 2 and 3 of the draft regulate how property passes to the State and how the State protects its rights:

Once the Committee resolves to attribute pro-Japanese property to the State, ownership passes without a separate name-change procedure, but the decree specifies the procedure and method so the transfer can be completed immediately to prevent disputes.
The Committee notifies the Administrator of the Public Procurement Service, who designates the competent head of a central administrative agency to carry out registration and name-transfer measures.
Land registered in Japanese names that is occupied by private persons or left neglected, with no competent agency, is also notified to the Administrator of the Public Procurement Service for preservation measures.
Property other than real estate is covered by the same registration and name-transfer procedures.
Before any attribution decision, the subject of the investigation must be given at least 30 days to submit an opinion.

Article 4 adds a confirmation procedure to recover the proceeds of pro-Japanese property that was disposed of, for example to a bona fide third party, with the same 30-day minimum for the subject and interested parties. Article 7 sets out recusal, challenge and avoidance rules for Committee members.

Committee structure and staffing

Articles 8 to 16 organise the new body. A Planning Bureau and an Investigation Bureau sit under the secretariat, alongside a legal affairs officer appointed from among prosecutors, who handles legal advice, litigation, recovery of disposal proceeds, preservation dispositions, fines and rewards. The Planning Bureau covers coordination, personnel, organisation, budget, accounting and investigation records; the Investigation Bureau conducts investigations for state attribution and recovery, hunts concealed assets and examines unattributed property. Staff quotas are fixed by rank, partly filled by officials seconded from central agencies, with prosecutors dispatched within the quota set by the Prosecutors’ Offices Act.

Investigations, rewards and penalties

Articles 17 to 21 govern preservation dispositions, the start of investigations, objections, data management, statement hearings, on-site inspections and requests for foreign evidence. Article 22 provides the legal basis for processing sensitive and unique identifying information, including resident registration numbers.

Articles 24 to 27 create the reward scheme:

Payment depends on the contribution of the report or information, its uniqueness and specificity, and the scale of the property.
Rewards are paid within the budget and may not exceed 50 million won.
Recovery of a reward requires at least 30 days for the recipient to respond, a Committee resolution and written notice.
The identity of informants is not disclosed without their consent.

Articles 28 to 30 set differentiated fines for refusing to submit data, appear, testify or hand over materials, with higher amounts for false submissions. The secretariat remains in place for three months after the Committee’s term ends to finish outstanding work.

Public comment

Comments on the draft may be filed online through the National Participation in Legislation Centre (opinion.lawmaking.go.kr) or sent to the Ministry of Justice’s Committee Establishment Preparation Team, Seoul Songpa-gu Uijeong-ro 30 (Munjjeong-dong), by e-mail at jmchal@naver.com, until 13 November 2026. Enquiries are handled at 02-2204-4150.

The decree determines who can be investigated, how property is frozen before a final decision, and how much an informant can earn, so it will shape the practical reach of the new law for descendants of collaborators, current occupants of the affected land and the officials now being recruited to staff the Committee.

Source: Republic of Korea Official Gazette (관보), No. 21339, 14 October 2026, Section I (공고), p. 78 (official reference: Ministry of Justice Public Notice No. 2026-412).