News 1: Song Sang-gyo: “A Truth and Reconciliation Commission Unprecedented Worldwide… Goal Is Legislation to Establish a Past History Research Foundation.”
Originally published in Korean on September 7th, 2026.
ChatGPT English translation posted to Paperslip on September 8th, 2026.
Please see original Korean article for photos.
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Song Sang-gyo, chairman of the 3rd Truth and Reconciliation Commission, is interviewed by News1 at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the 2nd. ⓒ News1 Lee Ho-yoon
(Seoul = News1) Interview by Yeo Tae-gyeong, Society Desk Chief; Jeong Jae-min and Yu Chae-yeon, reporters
“During my term, I would like to at least make an effort to get legislation enacted on a roadmap for addressing past history and on institutional measures for restoring victims.”
“Song Sang-gyo, chairman of the 3rd Truth and Reconciliation Commission (Truth and Reconciliation Commission), said this in an interview with News1 on the 2nd, expressing his ambition to establish “a Past History Research Foundation, a stable institution capable of carrying out work on past history even after the 3rd Truth and Reconciliation Commission ends.”’
“The 3rd Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which was launched at the end of February and has been accepting applications for truth-finding, officially decided in July to begin investigations into the cases it had received, setting sail on its three-year mission.
According to Chairman Song, these three years may perhaps be the final period given to a “Truth and Reconciliation Commission” in its current form.
Chairman Song has frequently used the expression “with the resolve that this is the last time” in his inaugural address and other public remarks. He says this is not merely rhetorical language expressing his determination.
The biggest reason is records and testimony that disappear as time passes. The 3rd Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s investigative jurisdiction covers more than 70 years, from the independence movement against Japanese rule around the period of Japanese colonialism through the period before the establishment of the National Human Rights Commission in 2001. The further back in time one goes, the more records have been lost and the fewer people remain who can testify about the history.
Chairman Song said, “The period during which we will be able to properly investigate past-history cases in this way will probably be only a few more years at most.” He explained, “For example, if we try to investigate an ‘unjust case’ from the Korean War, it is extremely difficult to hear testimony from people who know about the case,” adding, “As time passes, records become scattered, and sometimes there are records that have been concealed, so securing materials is not easy.”
However, it is practically difficult for the 3rd Truth and Reconciliation Commission to complete its truth-finding work on all the cases it has received within the allotted period. The 2nd Truth and Reconciliation Commission received approximately 20,000 cases and processed 10,881 of them, or 89.9%.
Contrary to expectations that the number of applications would have fallen substantially after the 1st and 2nd commissions, the 3rd Commission has instead seen the scale of its investigations grow, receiving more than 8,000 applications in roughly six months after its launch.
Chairman Song said, “The scale of what we have to investigate has grown, and if we want to bring everything to a proper conclusion, we cannot simply wait for applications, so we also need to conduct investigations on our own authority.” He added, “My biggest concern is whether we can accomplish this much work within the time we have been given.”
That is why, Chairman Song explained, a roadmap for stable work on past history and a Past History Research Foundation are necessary so that the work of addressing past history can continue even after the 3rd Commission ends.
He said, “The Truth and Reconciliation Commission is an investigative body, so investigation comes first, but someone needs to continue thinking over the long term about restoring victims and improving institutions.”
The Commission is also preparing to hold its first “deliberative public forum.” Article 18 of the Commission Act stipulates that a deliberative public forum should be established covering matters ranging from the Commission’s composition and operation to the truth-finding process, compensation and restitution for victims, and restoration of their honor, and that the forum should include people recommended by victims’ organizations and others.
Chairman Song said, “From the perspective of whether we have properly embraced and tended to the pain and suffering that victims have accumulated over decades, the evaluation of the Commission has, in fact, not been particularly good.” He added, “Given that this is an institution created for victims, I believe restoring trust is the most important external task.”
There are many other pressing tasks as well. Investigation Bureau 3, launched last July, is scheduled to be responsible for investigating cases involving overseas adoption and group-confinement facilities, with the goal of completing the recruitment of personnel by the end of October. In November, the Commission also plans to establish a Policy Planning Division to strengthen its internal policy-planning functions.
Song Sang-gyo, chairman of the 3rd Truth and Reconciliation Commission, is interviewed by News1 at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the 2nd. ⓒ News1 Lee Ho-yoon
Song Sang-gyo, chairman of the 3rd Truth and Reconciliation Commission, is interviewed by News1 at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the 2nd. ⓒ News1 Lee Ho-yoon
The following is a question-and-answer interview.
—The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has now reached its third iteration, but on the other hand, it is still not a familiar institution to the general public. What kind of institution is the Truth and Reconciliation Commission?
▶ The fact that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission has been established three times is unprecedented anywhere in the world. That reflects the fact that, in our country, victims of the harms caused by modern history are still very much alive, and those harms continue.
In 2005, former President Roh Moo-hyun said that a comprehensive institution for addressing past history should be established, and serious discussions began from that point. Subsequently, the 2nd and 3rd commissions were established in response to additional needs. However, there are still many people who do not know about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, so we are making various efforts to inform as many people as possible.
—Is the establishment of Investigation Bureau 3 nearing completion?
▶ Until now, we had been operating a task force (TF) because there was no legal basis for it, but after the enforcement decree was revised, it was officially established in July. We expect to complete the planned recruitment for the investigative bureau by the end of October.
Because Investigation Bureau 3 will be responsible for cases involving overseas adoption and group-confinement facilities, there are various issues that need to be considered. In the case of overseas adoption, most victims are living abroad, so it is not easy to conduct investigations when they need to come to Korea to give testimony or provide materials. We are continuing to consider investigative methodologies that take into account the particular circumstances of investigations involving facilities and overseas adoption, including establishing a system for taking testimony and preserving records through video conferencing equipment.
—How do you plan to organize the divisions within Investigation Bureau 3 dedicated to different types of cases?
▶ Within Investigation Bureau 3, we have established Divisions 9, 10 and 11, respectively dedicated to cases involving adult vagrant facilities, child detention facilities, and human-rights violations in overseas adoption.
I think the 3rd Commission will investigate “revolving-door confinement,” which is one of the defining characteristics of cases involving group-confinement facilities. People who were once confined in a facility were, over the course of their lives, generally confined several times in the same institution or in other similar institutions. I believe we need to properly investigate this at least once, if only to understand why this happened and to prevent it from happening again.
—What difficulties are there in the investigation process and in the subsequent processes of recommending retrials and pursuing compensation?
▶ There have been several significant advances under the Lee Jae-myung administration. In the past, there was a practice whereby the state would mechanically appeal when it lost a lawsuit, but there was an announcement that the government would “refrain from mechanical appeals,” and in practice that trend is now taking shape.
This is highly meaningful, but at the same time, there are still disappointing aspects in individual lawsuits. Different government ministries conduct litigation and, for example, argue about the “statute of limitations,” which courts currently do not recognize, or make statements that seem to deny the decisions of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, saying that “the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is biased in its investigations and is not a judicial institution.”
Within the narrow framework of a lawsuit, one could say that the government is simply acting in its role as a party to the litigation. But it is disappointing insofar as the process also amounts to reopening and probing victims’ wounds.
—The 2nd Commission faced controversy over bias. In your inaugural address, you also said that the task was to correct unjust harm “regardless of who the perpetrator was or whose gun muzzle the victim fell to.”
▶ Even now, whenever victims request interviews, we meet with as many of them as circumstances allow. If there are actions or decisions by a state institution that could be understood by victims as meaning that some are relatively more respected while others are neglected, that would constitute a second harm to the victims.
Therefore, I am paying particular attention to the principle that if a particular victim is not receiving a sufficient degree of restoration or recovery, that must be addressed. I also frequently tell the commissioners that, when it comes to resolving victims’ grievances and injustices, we must never approach the matter according to any ideological standard.
☞ Chairman Song Sang-gyo of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
Born in Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do, in 1972. He graduated from Seoul National University’s Department of Public Law and completed the 34th class of the Judicial Research and Training Institute in 2005.
After working as an attorney at the law firm Deoksu in 2005, he served as a member of the Ministry of Justice’s Committee on Past Affairs involving Prosecutors in 2017; secretary-general of the Lawyers for a Democratic Society (Minbyun) in 2018; a member of the Ministry of National Defense’s Alternative Service Review Committee in 2020; and secretary-general of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2021.
He has represented plaintiffs and defendants in cases including the fabricated Yu Seo-dae-pil letter-writing case, fabricated espionage cases involving Korean residents in Japan, state-compensation lawsuits over unlawful police arrests, and state-compensation cases involving the failure to notify families of military deaths.
In March 2026, he took office as chairman of the 3rd Truth and Reconciliation Commission.”