World · East Asia & Pacific · 1 day ago
Japanese professor calls for South Korea to return former Japanese assets
Waseda University professor emeritus Tetsuo Arima called for South Korea to return former Japanese assets in a post on social media.
He said South Korea is now wealthier than Japan and argued that property held by Japan and Japanese people at the end of the Second World War should be returned.
Arima said the US military transferred those assets to Koreans after the war, and called that unlawful.
He wants Japan and South Korea to make a new agreement on the issue.
The 1965 treaty between the two countries says claims over property and rights were settled fully and finally, and bars further claims based on earlier events.
Japan’s government has also said the treaty settled claims related to forced labor and wartime sexual slavery.
Arima’s proposal has drawn criticism online, and no next steps are stated.
Waseda University professor emeritus Tetsuo Arima called for a new agreement requiring South Korea to return assets held by Japan and Japanese people until the end of the war.
Arima argued that South Korea had become wealthier than Japan and that the assets had been transferred without the owners’ consent.
He made the comments in posts on X, including one on the 13th.
The 1965 Japan-South Korea claims agreement says property and claims between the two countries and their people were completely and finally settled.
The reports say Arima’s proposal conflicts with that agreement, and Yahoo! News also says it differs from the Japanese government’s official position.
- Who
- Tetsuo Arima, a Waseda University professor emeritus, made the proposal.
- What
- He called for a new agreement to return assets held by Japan and Japanese people until the end of the war.
- When
- He posted about the issue on the 13th; the articles were published on 15 and 16 October 2026.
- Where
- He made the posts on X. The assets discussed were in the Korean peninsula.
- Why
- Arima argued that South Korea had become wealthier than Japan and that the assets had been transferred without the owners’ consent.
Tetsuo Arima
Critics of his proposal
Basis for a new agreement
Tetsuo Arima
Arima says Japan and Japanese people should seek the return of assets they owned until the end of the war.
Critics of his proposal
Critics say the proposal conflicts with the 1965 Japan-South Korea claims agreement, which settled property and claims issues.
Transfer of assets
Tetsuo Arima
Arima argues that transferring the assets without owners’ consent violated international law.
Critics of his proposal
Critics say his argument is unfounded; the articles also report that the Japanese government maintains claims related to forced mobilization and wartime comfort women were settled under the 1965 agreement.
Japan and South Korea signed an agreement stating that property and claims between the countries and their people were completely and finally settled.
Arima posted on X that assets owned by Japan and Japanese people had been given to local Koreans after the war without charge.
Arima called for a new agreement to return the assets and defended the proposal in further posts.
Reports on Arima’s proposal and the criticism it drew were published.
- Professor
- Tetsuo Arima, Waseda University professor emeritus
- Platform
- X
- Post date
- 13 October
- Agreement
- Japan-South Korea claims agreement, signed in 1965
- Proposed action
- A new agreement to return assets held by Japan and Japanese people until the end of the war
3 sources
What people are saying
South Korea has become wealthier than Japan, so I would like it to conclude a new agreement and return to Japan and Japanese people the assets they owned until the end of the war, the so-called vested property.
We know. Under the agreements between Japan and South Korea so far. That is why I say to conclude a new agreement.
After the war, assets owned by Japan and Japanese people were given free of charge by the American military to local Koreans.