From your description of the 1950 law and the San Francisco Peace Treaty, it seems that Korean and Taiwanese residents of Japan who did not take citizenship in 1950 lost their chance to do so after the treaty was signed.

No, that’s not what I mean to say at all. They never “lost their chance”, they just lost their citizenship. The logic being that these people were Japanese citizenship because they were from Japanese territories lost it’s footing when Korea Taiwan (and Okinawa) stopped being territories with the signing of the SF Peace treaty.

However it was taken into accord that there were all these people who where in Japan, so they were given special resident status.

The laws for naturalization were put in place first, after which citizenship for those from Taiwan Korea and Okinawa was revoked. Taiwanese getting Taiwanese citizenship, Koreans getting Korean citizenships, and Okinawan getting American status (but not full citizenship as I recall).

So, then, same as today, one who remained in Japan could have simply just applied for Japanese citizenship because the laws were in place. However if it was me I wouldn’t have either, and would have been waiting for the two Korea’s to get their things worked out and back together, but my choice for not taking Japanese citizenship would not be because I was being prevented from doing so by the Japanese government in any way.

Correcting someone’s factual information is not an attack.

I know that, and you know that, and I know that you know that. But we both know there are a lot of people who seemingly don’t know that, so I just wanted to be sure there was as little unnecessary confusion as possible.

lirelou:

Any San Francisco Treaty provision on Taiwanese taking Japanese citizenship was probably rendered mute prior to the signing of the treaty by the arrival of Chiang Kai-shek, the remnants of the KMT government, and those nationalist formations which were able to evacuate the mainland.

Wouldn’t the new government have to honor the treaties signed by the old government? For example Russia couldn’t claim that Alaska is hers by undoing the treaty signed by a former government could it?

I think what’s more of an issue for Taiwan and the SF Treaty is what happened to Taiwan. Was it ‘returned’ to China, set to be independent, or just released from Japanese control completely avoiding the issue as a whole.

I don’t know the answer to any of those questions, I’m just speculating. But the discussion should probably remain focused how it pertains to Korea and Korean residents in Japan.

All the laws that would pertain to this situation have not changed since May 4th, 1950, which is when they were first instated.

That’s a full year before the signing of the San Francisco Peace Treaty with which people of Taiwanese and Korean decent lost their Japanese citizenship.

The issues of some sort of Mass Relocation did not come up until the 1960’s.

There was nothing stopping someone from taking Japanese citizenship then, or today as far as the Government is concerned. Now there are plenty of moral concerns on the side of the Koreans (I’ve heard that some people won’t because they believe taking Japanese citizenship is pledging one’s allegiances to the Emperor — something that is ridiculous, but if they want to think that they’re free to do so) that influence one’s decision not to take Japanese citizenship, but that is their choice, not the restriction of the Japanese government.

I didn’t list the quote as being from you Songai because I didn’t want it to seem as though I was ‘attacking’ you or something that could be labeled as ‘your thoughts’, but just rather that this is an issue that is commonly misunderstood.

“This is an all too common misconception. Japan is willing to accord anyone full citizenship if they’d just apply for it.”

in response to my comment:

“stayed put in a country that did not accord them full citizenship status.”

Please note the use of the past tense did. Japanese citizenship laws have relaxed considerably in the past few decades.

…stayed put in a country that did not accord them full citizenship status.

This is an all too common misconception. Japan is willing to accord anyone full citizenship if they’d just apply for it.

It was determined by all parties involved that ethnic Koreans in Japan would loose their Japanese citizenship and take the Korean citizenship of their choice. As Japan is not one of the rare countries that gives citizenship to all those who are born in the country, if your parents don’t have Japanese citizenship, you won’t have it from birth either. But there is nothing stopping you from applying for citizenship yourself; and after words all your children will be born with Japanese citizenship.

Today the battle wages on over dual-citizenship and foreigners voting rights. Japan does not allow dual-citizenship and does not allow foreigners to vote. Again, this is true for most places in the world. But that does not mean an ethnic foreigner cannot vote, they just have to be a citizen of the country.

Sorry to get off topic, but to say that Japan will not give ethnic Koreans Japanese citizenship is absurd — those who do not have Japanese citizenship choose to live their life that way through no one’s will other than their own. (Well, their parents have an influence, but once they become a legal adult at 20, they can take Japanese citizenship without permission from their parents.)

Quote: “…In effect, Koreans [in Japan, after the Korean War] could choose a dictatorship aiming at paradise… or a murder-torturing dictatorship… under foreign “occupation.”

Comment: So — did Truman do wrong to intervene in July 1950, Uri? The US occupation or ROk had ended in April 1949, when the last US combat unit was withdrawn from ROK; only a several hundred man advisory group remained, and these were successfully rescured by MacArthur in the week or so following the North attack on 25 June 1950.

If, after that, Truman and the US should have “let this cup pass” — then don’t beat around the bush, come right out and say so. You’ve got plenty of American eyes here on this blog; it’s an opportunity to “speak truth to power”, if you were concerned for human rights under the various ROK governments from the 50’s to the 90’s.

Maybe it’s indeed all the Americans fault that “paradise” was averted on the Korean peninsula.

I’ve caught a few hints of this viewpoint here on this board, and I’m still waiting for an elaboration from an intelligent advocate of the viewpoint.

(I suppose this Cumings chap may have said something in his work along those lines, one of these days I’ll seek out his stuff at the library and take a look. Feel free to refer me there, if you concur).

“Most Japanese do not even understand why there are Koreans in Japan and why they just don’t go “home.”

Most? Care to support that generalization?

Geez, and here I thought that the Koreans in Japan were forced laborers or slaves. How were they able to amass wealth to the extent that it would prevent them from leaving Japan?

“A better deal from SCAP, the Japanese, or the South never came. All Chongryun members I have interviewed freely admit repatriations were a mistake (after all, their parents stayed), but it also needs to be pointed out that the South lost the propaganda war in many people’s hearts because constantly bad news flowed freely from it, in contrast to the North (one exception below). In effect, Koreans could choose a dictatorship aiming at paradise… or a murder-torturing dictatorship… under foreign “occupation.” Important too is that the North’s Soviet subsidized economy still appeared better the ROK for years. Han Duk Su was certainly Kim Il Sung’s man in Japan, but to reduce Chongryun to a “Fifth Column” overlooks the legitimate battle Koreans have had to fight for human rights in Japan and the Japanese government’s complicity in the repatriation drive. Morris-Suzuki understands this. Most Japanese do not even understand why there are Koreans in Japan and why they just don’t go “home.””

Whatever Chosen Soren was when it started, it is a fifth column now. It also spreads a hateful racial ideology. I have met graduates of the Chosen Soren run schools, and many of them are very angry people, and have racial views about the Japanese. Lets not forget Chosen Sorens illegal activities, either.