Chinilpa
| Chinilpa | |
| Hangul | 친일파 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | |
| Revised Romanization | Chinilpa |
| McCune–Reischauer | Ch'inilp'a |
Chinilpa (lit. "people friendly to Japan") is a Korean word that denotes Koreans who collaborated with the Imperial Japanese government during its colonial reign over Korea from 1910–1945, or shortly before then, around the time of the Korean Empire. To this day, chinilpa is often used as a derogatory statement against Japanophilic South Koreans.
In the last years of Joseon Dynasty, the word chinilpa meant a group of politicians who sought alliance with Japan, such as Iljinhoe, that confronted pro-Russian, pro-Chinese and pro-American groups. However, at the end of World War II, when Korea regained its independence, the word changed its meaning from "pro-Japanese politicians" to "pro-Japanese collaborators".
After South Korea's gradual democratization during the 1980s and 1990s, a public call to prosecute chinilpa and "set the history right" has gained increasing support. This sometimes mixes with a general anti-Japanese sentiment in South Korea, reinforcing each other. However, they are two distinct social agendas.
The word chinilpa for who collaborated with the Imperial Japanese first appears in chinilmunhangnon (Comments on Chinil Literature, 친일문학론, 1966), written by Im Jong Guk, who was an activist of Korea. Before its publication, it was common to call them builbae (Korean: 부일배; Hanja: 附日輩; literally "people who collaborated with Japan"), especially criticizing Korean Leadership.
Banmin Teugwi, the Special Committee mentioned above, was set up in 1948 under the rule of Rhee Syngman. It handled 682 cases; 559 cases were handed over to a special prosecutor's office, which handed down indictments in 221 cases. A special tribunal tried 38 cases, sentenced guilty verdicts and punishments in 12 cases including one death sentence. Eighteen others had their civil rights suspended, six others were declared innocent and the remaining two were found guilty but were exempted from punishment. However, the Supreme Court suspended their execution in March 1950, just before the Korean War.
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