25 Japanese War Criminals Permanent No Entry to Korea

The Justice Department announced on August 17 that 25 war criminals have been permanently barred from entering Korea according to the 1997 regulations on entering and leaving the country. The Justice Department, however, refrained from giving concrete information on their names and the nature of their crimes for diplomatic reasons.

The Justice Department has hitherto designated war criminals to be barred by investigating the 5300 name war criminal registry, which it retrieved from Japanese NGOs, and microfilms from U.S. Government Record Archives which contain information on war crminials. A Department offical stated, ``Since the analysis of the records are ongoing, the number of persons who will be barred from entry is likely to increase.``

Section 11 article 7 of the 1997 entry-exit regulations prescribes, `The right to refuse entry of persons related to the Japanese government, allied nations to Japan, nations under Japanese rule who followed orders to abuse or massacred persons for reasons of race, ethnicity, religion, or nationality.`

Shin Suk-Ho kyle@donga.com