Nearly 2 million square meters of real estate has been returned to Korean descendants of pro-Japan collaborators between 2007 and 2015, after they filed suits in protest against the government's confiscation of their assets, data showed Wednesday.
  

A total 1.99 million square meters of state-owned land has been returned to the descendents of Koreans who collaborated with Japan during its colonial rule of Korea in the early 20th century, the data showed.
  

Rep. Kim Jung-hoon of the ruling Saenuri Party released the report based on data submitted to the National Assembly by the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs.
  

A total of 133 suits were filed by descendants of pro-Japan collaborators against the state as of July 2015, according to the data. Of the total, 119 cases were won by the government.
  

The courts ruled in favor of the descendants in 14 other cases as the real estate in question had already been sold to third parties.
  

The struggle over this still-delicate chapter of modern history was first settled under the former Roh Moo-hyun administration, which passed a law in 2005 that allowed the seizure of the property in question.
  

The special law on the state ownership of property owned by pro-Japanese collaborators stipulates that the government can seize assets acquired by or given to Koreans who supported Japan during the colonial period and their descendents.
  

In 2011, the Constitutional Court ruled that the law is constitutional, saying it is necessary to clear away remnants of the bitter period.
  

The largest piece of real estate confiscated by the state was inherited by descendents of former Korean politician Min Byung-suk, according to the data. Min received a title of nobility from Japan for his contribution to the country's annexation of Korea in 1910.
  

The Supreme Court in 2013 ruled in favor of the state, saying that the assets were a reward for his collaboration and that the Constitutional Court also ruled that the law is constitutional. (Yonhap)