The World On arirang

On August 15, 1945, Korea gained its independence from Japanese colonial rule, bringing an end to 35 years of human and economic exploitation. However, pro-Japanese collaborators and traitors who aided and abetted Japan's annexation of Korea still remain at large, 73 years after independence. While there are growing calls on the government to seize any assets that have been illicitly gained by the collaborators, the process is facing many obstacles. Europe's handling of Nazi collaborators could provide an important case study for South Korea to consider. Germany, which was slow to address its Nazi past in the immediate post-war years, began taking on full responsibility following the student protests of 1968. Despite surviving war criminals all being over 90 years of age, Germany has been unrelenting in its efforts to track them down and bring them to justice. France meanwhile, placed a staggering 350,000 people under investigation for Nazi collaboration following the year, of which more than 120,000 were judged in court. In this week's edition of "Foreign Correspondents", we sit down with our panel of foreign journalists to talk about South Korea's outstanding historical issues as well as that of Europe, in commemoration of National Liberation Day.

Panelists
Thomas Maresca, Journalist / USA Today
Frank Smith, Correspondent / Iran Press TV
Fabian Kretschmer, Journalist / Deutsche Welle