High court rejects demand for full disclosure of diplomatic papers

Jun 23 08:20 AM US/Eastern

TOKYO, June 23 (AP) - (Kyodo) — The Tokyo High Court on Wednesday upheld a lower court's decision to reject a suit filed by a group of South Koreans and Japanese researchers demanding that the Japanese government fully disclose documents on Japan-South Korea diplomatic talks between 1951 and 1965.

Presiding Judge Toshifumi Minami supported the Tokyo District Court's ruling last December that the government's decision to partially disclose the requested documents is appropriate.

The court said full disclosure may cause detrimental effects on a territorial dispute over the South Korea-controlled islets called Takeshima in Japan and diplomatic normalization talks with North Korea.

While plaintiffs claimed that the documents are historical materials written more than half a century ago, the judge said the full disclosure may affect ongoing diplomatic issues and the passage of time does not reduce the validity of the partial disclosure.

The plaintiffs, comprising South Koreans seeking wartime compensation and Japanese historians, filed the suit after the Foreign Ministry rejected their demand in November 2007 to fully disclose the documents on the grounds it would cause diplomatic disadvantages.