Introduction: The Appeal of Direct Civil Penalties
The proposal to compel anti-national collaborators—or their estates—to pay direct legal reparations (Bae-sang) directly to identified victims or their descendants represents the purest model of corrective justice:
The Barrier of Retroactive Civil Liability
Under South Korean constitutional law, the principle of non-retroactivity (Nulla Poena Sine Lege and the protection of legal certainty) strictly limits the state’s ability to enact new laws that create fresh civil monetary liabilities for acts committed decades in the past:
The Chaos of Private Asset Distribution
Had the state successfully levied direct civil reparations against collaborators, distributing those funds among victim groups would have triggered an insurmountable administrative and social crisis:
Conclusion: A Calculated Legal Compromise
South Korea did not reject direct collaborator reparations out of sympathy for perpetrators or disregard for victims:
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