SEOUL? joint exhibition of South and North Korea witnessing the forced annexation of Korea by the Japanese Colonial government in 1910 is likely to be held in Pyongyang around Mar. 1, 2001, according to South Korean scholars who returned from their visit to Pyongyang to discuss the event.

``At the invitation of the Academy of Social Sciences of North Korea, we visited Pyongyang on Nov. 28-Dec. 4, and neared agreement on the exhibition proving the illegitimacy of the annexation, which was planned and carried out by with force by the Japanese government,’’ said Lee Jong-hak, 73, one of the scholars who visited there.

``Once the North makes its final decision, further discussion over the details will take place, and it is likely that an exhibition in Seoul follow after the one held in Pyongyang,’’ he added.

Lee, an archivist, is the head of the private Sa-un Institute which conducts research Korean-Japan relations and the Japanese Colonial rule of Korea (1910-1945).

``For the trip to Pyongyang this time, we took about 350 documents and photos which prove that the annexation is not, as Japan insists, a valid agreement made signed between two countries,’’ Lee said, citing one Japanese government document as example.

The paper ``Japan-Korea Annexation Report,’’ records that prior to the annexation, a cavalry regiment, instead of the more forceful foot soldiers squadroon, was dispatched to the area near the Korean Emperor’s residence in Seoul, since they would ``suppress the primitive people (Koreans) more’’ with their looks.

Other papers he has prove that the Japanese authorities already took over the palaces by the time the annexation took place, having troops inside.

``Although the North Koreans’ view on the Japanese Colonial rule is not so different from ours, they lack the evidence, as most of the government offices were in Seoul and much record was destroyed during the Korean War (1950-1953), in the North’’ Lee said, adding that he hoped such records would help ``set the history straight.’’

He went on to say that he hoped the records would help the ongoing negotiations between North Korea and Japan on forming diplomatic relations.

Apology from the Japanese government, and a possible compensation for the colonial activities are said to be the major hurdles the two countries have to overcome before agreeing on ties.

South Korea, for its part, established diplomatic relations with Japan in 1965, receiving $182 million in compensation and $793 in loans as a result.

At the time, many criticized that Japan didn’t give an official apology, and that the compensation was not enough.

``I hope that the exhibition, if realized, will open the way for more academic exchanges between the two Koreas and set history straight,’’ Lee said.
ssm@koreatimes.co.kr