Chongryon

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Ch'ongryŏn
Korean Name
Chosŏn'gŭl 재일본 조선인 총련합회
Hanja 在日本朝鮮人總聯合會
McCune-Reischauer Chae Ilbon Chosŏnin Ch'ongryŏnhaphoe
Revised Romanization Jae Ilbon Joseonin Chongryeonhaphoe
Japanese Name
Hepburn romanization Zai-Nihon Chōsenjin Sōrengōkai
Kanji 在日本朝鮮人総聯合会 or 在日本朝鮮人総連合会

The General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chae Ilbon Chosŏnin Ch'ongryŏnhaphoe in Korean or Zai-Nihon Chōsenjin Sōrengōkai in Japanese), abbreviated to Chongryon (총련) or Chōsen Sōren (朝鮮総連), is one of two main organisations for Zainichi Koreans (long term Korean residents in Japan), and has close ties to North Korea (DPRK). As there are no diplomatic relations between the two countries, it has been North Korea's de facto embassy in Japan.

Chongryon members primarily consist of those who have retained their nationality registration of Joseon, as opposed to those who have chosen to take up either Japanese or South Korean nationality.

The other main organization is called Mindan, the Korean Residents Union In Japan, and is comprised of Zainichi Koreans who have adopted South Korean nationality. Currently, among 610,000 Korean residents in Japan who have not adopted Japanese nationality, 25 percent are members of Chongryon, and 65 percent are members of Mindan. Chongryon's strong links to North Korea, its allegiance to the North Korean ideology and its opposition to integration of Koreans into Japanese society has made it the more controversial of the two organisations in Japan.

Chongryon's headquarters are in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, and there are prefectural and regional head offices and branches throughout Japan.

There are numerous organisations affiliated with Chongryon, including eighteen mass propaganda bodies and twenty-three business enterprises. One of the most important business sectors is pachinko. It also operates about 60 Korean schools and a Korean university, as well as banks and other facilities in Japan.

Its current Chairman, Seo Man-Sul, and five other senior Chongryon officials are also members of the Supreme People's Assembly (North Korea's parliament).

Contents

[edit] Background & history

Main article: Zainichi Koreans

Long term ethnic Korean residents in Japan primarily consist of those, and descendants of, ethnic Koreans who settled in Japan as:

  • Migrants during Japan's rule over Korea (1910-1945)
  • Conscripted labourers during the Second World War
  • Post-WW2 refugees, especially from Jeju island escaping the 1948 Jeju massacre.

A 1953 government survey revealed that 93% were from the southern half of the Korean peninsula.

Until 1945, ethnic Koreans were Japanese nationals. The end of the Second World War left the nationality status of Koreans in an ambiguous position, as no functional nation existed on the Korean Peninsula. Their nationality was provisionally registered under the name of Joseon (Chōsen in Japanese, 朝鮮, 조선), the old name of undivided Korea.

The 1948 declaration of independence by both South and North Korea made Joseon a defunct nation. Those with Joseon nationality were allowed to re-register their nationality to a South Korean one; however the same did not apply to North Korea due to the fact that Japan only recognises South Korea as the legitimate government of Korea, so supporters of the North retained their Joseon nationality.

Ethnic Koreans in Japan established the Association of Koreans in Japan in 1945, which followed a socialist ideology, and was banned in 1949 by the order of Allied ocupation army. The United Democratic Front of Korea in Japan was established in 1951, which was banned due to suspected involvement in the 1952 May Day riots.

In 1952, the North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung called on the socialist zainichi Korean movement to be co-ordinated in close contact with the North Korean government, and to fight, not for a socialist revolution in Japan, but for the socialist reunification of the Korean peninsula.

Chongryon was established on May 25, 1955 by Han Deok Su, who was an activist for leftist labor movements in Japan. (The pro-South Mindan had already branched off from the main organisation in 1946).

In the late 1950's, Chongryon conducted a campaign to persuade Zainichi Koreans to migrate to North Korea, which it hailed as a socialist "Paradise on Earth". The campaign was vehemently opposed by Mindan which organised hunger strikes and train obstructions. Some 87,000 Zainichi Koreans and about 6000 Japanese spouses moved to the North, oblivious to the harsh conditions which awaited them. According to a defector, himself a former returnee, many petitioned to be returned to Japan and in response were sent to prison camps. A Japanese research puts the number of zainichi Korean returnees condemned to prison camps at around 10,000.[1][2] (In 1990 Su-to Ha, former vice chief of organization for Chongryon who was expelled in 1972 for demanding democratic reforms, led a rally in Tokyo of 500 to protest against North Korea's human rights violations, in which protesters accused North Korea of holding the ex-Zainichi returnees captive in order to siphon money off remittances from their relatives in Japan).

[edit] Ideology

On their website, Chongryon claims that all their activities are based around the concept of Juche, the official state ideology of North Korea.

Chongryon say they are committed to a peaceful reunification of the Korean peninsula under North Korean Juche, and does not recognise the Republic of Korea (South Korea). It refers to as Minami chosen (Namjosŏn - "Southern Joseon") as opposed to kankoku (hanguk). (See Names of Korea).

Chongryon opposes the use of the Japanese word kita-chosen ("North Korea") as an abbreviation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. It refers to the country as "kyowakoku" ("The Republic") or "sokoku" ("The Fatherland"). In 1972 Chongryon campaigned to get the Japanese media to stop referring to North Korea as kita-chosen. This was not accepted, but as a compromise most media companies agreed to refer to the DPRK with its full official title at least once in every article. This policy was recently abandoned by most newspapers and TV stations, on the basis that other nations with naming issues such as South Korea (ROK) and Taiwan (ROC) aren't necessarily referred to by their official names.

Chongryon claims to be a representative body of overseas North Korean citizens living in Japan, and reject the notion that they are a mere ethnic minority.

Out of the two main Korean organisations in Japan, Chongryon has been the more militant in terms of retaining their ethnic identity. It is generally opposed to integration into Japanese society; for example it discourages its members from naturalising as Japanese citizens, or marrying Japanese (which it calls "international marriage"). It even goes as far as rejecting zainichi Korean's right to vote or participate in Japanese regional elections, which they saw as an unacceptable attempt at assimilation into Japanese society. [3] This is in contrast to Mindan, who are campaigning for wider zainichi Korean participation in Japanese politics.

[edit] Activities

Chongryon runs various support and advisory services for members, such as legal and marriage advice and employment help. It is also responsible for issuing North Korean passports.

Chongryon-affiliated organisations operate businesses and banks to provide the necessary jobs, services and social networks for Zainichi Koreans outside of mainstream society. Chongryon supporters are thought to control as much as one third of the pachinko industry in Japan. An important function of these enterprises is earning hard currency to be remitted to Pyongyang. These remittances have been estimated at between $600 million and $1.9 billion each year, but are probably much lower. [4]

Chongryon publishes a newspaper ("Chosen shinpo") as well as various magazines and other publications. Websites run by Chongryon-affiliated organisations include the English language People's Korea. Chongryon also runs various cultural activities and sports teams representing its members.

The group organises trips by members to North Korea, usually to visit relatives, as well as educational visits for students of Korean schools. They operate Mangyongbong-92, a passenger and cargo ferry which links Niigata in Japan to Wonsan in North Korea which serves as the only direct link between the two countries, and a subject of much controversy (see below). The ferry is currently temporarily barred from entering the Japanese port in response to North Korea's July 2006 missile tests.

The congress, the highest legislative organ of Chongryon, is every three years since 1961 to discuss agenda, election of key leaders and budget.

[edit] Korean schools

Chongryon operates about 60 ethnic Korean schools (chosen gakko 朝鮮学校 or chosǒn hakkyo 조선학교) across Japan, including kindergartens and one university, initially partly funded by the North Korean government. All lessons, and all conversations within the school are conducted in Korean. They teach a strong pro-North Korean ideology and allegiance to Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il. They are not classified as regular schools under Japanese law as they do not follow the national curriculum.

Their militant stance is increasingly coming under criticism from pupils, parents and the public alike. The number of pupils receiving ethnic education from Chongryon-affiliated schools have declined sharply in recent years, down to about 15,000 in 2004 from a high of 46,000 in the early 1970's, with many, if not most, Zainichi now opting to send their children to mainstream Japanese schools.

The schools were initially funded by North Korea, but this money has now dried up. Today funding comes partially from local Japanese authorities, but many schools are facing financial difficulties. The Japanese government has refused Chongryon's requests that it funds ethnic schools, citing Article 89 of the Japanese Constitution, where use of public funds for education by non-public bodies is prohibited. Chongryon calls this an act of racial discrimination. Funding from local authorities takes place in the form of special benefits paid to the families of pupils, as opposed to paying the schools directly, in order to avoid a blatant breach of Article 89.

Some Chongryon schools have been closed because of lack of funding or pupil numbers, and there is serious doubt as to the continuing viability of the system as a whole.

(Mindan has also traditionally operated a school system for the children of its members, although it has been always been less widespread and organized compared to its Chongryon counterpart, and is said to be nearly defunct at the present time.)

Another issue is an examination called the High School Equivanency Test, or daiken, which qualifies those who have not graduated from a regular high school to apply for a place in a state university and take an entrance exam. Until recently, only those who have completed compulsory education (i.e. up to junior high school) were entitled to take daiken; this meant pupils of ethnic schools had to do extra courses before being allowed to take the exam. In 1999 the requirement was amended so that anyone over a certain age are qualified. Campaigners were not satisfied because this still meant graduates of non-Japanese high schools had to take daiken. In 2003, the Education Ministry removed the requirement to take the Equivalency Test from graduates of Chinese schools, Mindan-run Korean schools and international schools affiliated with Western nations and accredited by U.S. and British organisations. However this did not apply to graduates of Chongryon schools, saying it could not approve their curriculums. The decision was left up to individual universities, 70% of which allowed Chongryon school graduates to apply directly.Ed-Info Japan News from September, to December, 2003

[edit] Decline in membership

Until well into at least the 1970's, Chongryon was the dominant Zainichi group, and in some ways remains more politically significant today in Japan. However, the widening disparity between the political and economic conditions of the two Koreas has since made Mindan, the pro-South Korean group, the larger and certainly the less politically controversial faction.

In general, Chongryon is a declining organization primarily maintained by older Zainichi Chosenjin who appreciate the contributions the organization and the North Korean government has made to their lives, regardless of present political conditions. In comparison, third- and fourth-generation Zainichi Chosenjin have largely given up active participation or loyalty to the Chongryon ideology. Reasons stated for this increased disassociation include widespread mainstream tolerance of Koreans by Japanese in recent years, greatly reducing the need to rely on Chongryon, and the increasing unpopularity of Kim Jong Il even among loyal members of Chongryon. Many Zainichi Chosenjin also felt deeply betrayed by the North Korean government's recent admission that it had kidnapped 13 Japanese citizens over the years, because Chongryon had been categorically and fiercely denying for many years that the abductions had ever taken place. Whether the officials of Chongryon had known of the kidnappings or not, ordinary members of Chongryon who had believed the party line felt deeply humiliated and disillusioned upon discovering that they had been used as mouthpieces to deny what was seen in Japan as serious wrongdoing by North Korea.

[edit] Controversies over Chongryon

For a long time, Chongryon enjoyed unofficial immunity from searches and investigations, partly out of respect for its role as North Korea's de facto embassy, and partly due to its power as a political pressure group. However, escalating tensions between and Japan and North Korea over a number of issues, namely its nuclear weapons programme and its abduction of Japanese nationals has led to a resurgence of public animosity against Chongryon due to its active support of the Pyongyang regime. Acts which Chongryon officials are suspected of include illicit transfer of funds to North Korea, espionage, and smuggling of missile parts.

Since allegations of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme first surfaced in the early 1990's, Chongryon has frequently reported being targeted by hate mail, malicious phone calls, and numerous incidents. Chongryon facilities have also frequently been sites of protests by Japanese right-wing groups.

  • There has been numerous incidents of students of Chongryon schools, identifiable by their uniforms based on traditional Korean costumes, suffering verbal abuse. Furthermore, around May and June 1994 there was a series of physical assaults on Chongryon students in which their uniforms were cut; this was reported heavily in the Japanese media and trigged a Ministry of Justice investigation.
  • In 1998, a petrol bomb was thrown at Chongryon's headquarters in Tokyo, causing minor damage,
  • In June 2003, a shot was fired into a Chongryon warehouse in Niigata, hitting cargo waiting to be loaded onto Mangyongbong-92.
  • In October 2006 in the aftermath of North Korea's first nuclear test, a suspected arson attack damaged a bamboo grove inside Chongryon's school in Mito. A 15 year old female student was pelted with eggs at the school the same day.

The Japanese authorities have recently started to crack down on Chongryon activities, moves usually criticised by Chongryon as acts of political suppression. FM Spokesman Urges Japan to Stop Suppression of Chongryon.

  • The first raid on Chongryon facilities was in 1994, when a rally held in Osaka by Rescue the North Korean People! (RENK), a Japanese citizens group set up to help refugees and demand democracy and human rights in North Korea, was attacked and broken up by a 100-strong mob. Police investigations revealed that the disruption was orchestrated by Chongryon. (in Japanese)
  • In December 2001, police raided Chongryon's Tokyo headquarters and related facilities to investigate Chongryon officials' suspected role in embezzlement of funds from the failed tokyo Chogin credit union. [5]
  • In 2002, Shotaro Tochigi, deputy head of the Public Security Investigation Agency told a session of the House of Representatives Financial Affairs Committee that the agency is investigating Chongryon for suspected illicit transfers of funds to the North. [6]
  • In 2003, a North Korean defector made a statement to the US Senate committee stating that more than 90% of the parts used by North Korea to construct its missiles were brought from Japan aboard Mangyongbong-92, a Chongryon-operated ship which is the only regular direct link between North Korea and Japan. [7] The operation of the ship (barred from Japan for six months as of July 2006) is a subject of significant tension. The ferry is primarily used by Chongryon to send its members to North Korea and to supply North Korea with money and goods donated by the organization and its members.
  • In 2003, The Associated Press reported that Japanese authorities are preparing to charge a 72-year old former senior member of Chongryon who was engaged in espionage activities for using false identity. It was claimed that espionage instructions were relayed to him by the captain of Mangyongbong-92. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told reporters "We must watch (the vessel) closely lest it be used for crime." [8]
  • In July 2003, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government reversed a decision made in 1972 by the Marxist Governor Ryokichi Minobe to exempt Chongryon from property tax. Chongryon refused to pay, resulting in seizure of three Chongryon properties. [9]
  • In March 2006, police raided six Chongryon-related facilities in an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the June 1980 disappearance of one of the alleged abductees, Tadaaki Hara. Police spokesman said that the head of Chongryon at the time is suspected of co-operating in his kidnap. [10]

In May 2006, Chongryon and the pro-South Mindan agreed to reconcile, only for the agreement to break down the following month due to Mindan's distrust of Chongryon. North Korea's missile tests in July 2006 have deepened the divide, with Chongryon refusing to condemn the missile tests, expressing only its regret that the Japanese government has suspended the operation of the Mangyongbong-92. Outraged senior Mindan officials joined mainstream Japanese politicians and media in sharply criticizing Chongryon's silence over the matter.

[edit] Schools and Institutions under Chongryon

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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