사할린 억류한인의 국적귀속과 법적 제 문제

The various problems of legal and the nationality status of Korean internees in Sakhalin

During the time of Japanese Imperialism ended, a faction of Koreans who were forced by Japan to go to Sakhalin should have been allowed to return to Korea. Unfortunately, Japan did not make an effort to return them to Korea and this group of Koreans was abandoned on Sakhalin. Even today the Sakhalin Koreans still await the day they can return from exile. Although the U.S.-Russian treaty allowed the Japanese in Sakhalin to return to Japan, another treaty between Russian and Japan prevented the Koreans detained on Sakhalin from returning to Korea. In the history of the world, no one group of people have ever been forcefully detained and abandoned in this manner. The Sakhalin Koreans were the first group to be deserted and forgotten. While Japan admits that it sent Korean people to Sakhalin, the Japanese government does not believe it is their responsibility to return the Sakhalin Koreans to Korea. According to the Japanese government, the Korean-Japanese claim agreement should have resolved all issued surrounding the Sakhalin incident. However, the Japanese government is willing to give the Sakhalin Koreans support for humanitarian purposes. Despite the fact that the Japanese government is willing to give humanitarian aid, they should have first paid war reparations to the Sakhalin Koreans as well as given them a sincere apology for their confinement and abandonment. To this day no war reparations have been paid to the Sakhalin Koreans. Instead, the Japanese government is using the humanitarian aid to send the Sakhalin Koreans to Korea ― it is believed that Japan is doing this in order to avoid international criticism as well as to avoid paying war reparations. Although the Sakhalin Koreans were Japanese nationality before they were confined to Sakhalin, according to this thesis, the Japanese government is not responsible for returning the Sakhalin Koreans to Korea. This thesis also proved that the Korean-Japanese claim agreement does not exempt Japan from paying war reparations and the Sakhalin Koreans have the right to demand reparations from the Japanese government. In addition, this thesis describes the many unresolved issues surrounding the Sakhalin Koreans.