From the late 19th century and until 1945, ethnic Koreans worked with the Empire of Japan. Some of these figures contributed to or benefitted from Japan's colonization of Korea, and some actively worked to counter the Korean independence movement. These people are now considered by much of Korea to have been collaborators with Japan, and thus traitors to Korea.
Examples of such people include members of the Iljinhoe or Five Eulsa Traitors.
Prosecution of collaborators began after the liberation of Korea, although the prosecution was interfered with by the South Korean leader Syngman Rhee. Prosecution returned after the gradual democratization during the 1980s and 1990s. The first anti-collaborator legislation was passed in 2005: the Special Law to Redeem Pro-Japanese Collaborators' Property.
Chinilpa (Korean: 친일파; Hanja: 親日派; lit. pro-Japan faction) and bu-ilbae (부일배; 附日輩; lit. people who collaborated with Japan) are words used to describe collaborators. These terms can be considered derogatory.
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