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Vol. 71/No. 14      April 9, 2007

 
Koreans in Japan resist gov’t repression
 
BY OLYMPIA NEWTON  
HANOI, Vietnam—“In recent months, the Japanese authorities have stepped up their repressive actions against Korean residents in Japan,” said Ryon Munsong of the Korean Youth League in Japan (KYLJ), in a March 11 interview here. “Tokyo’s repressive policies have emboldened right-wing elements to violently attack Koreans in Japan,” he explained.

Winning solidarity for their struggle to end Tokyo’s discrimination was a campaign of the KYLJ during the March 10-13 General Assembly of the World Federation of Democratic Youth here.

Japan formally annexed Korea in 1910. Between then and 1945, Tokyo forcibly “relocated” 10 percent of Korea’s population to serve in its army, labor in Japanese industry, or be forced into sexual slavery for its army (see article on page 2). Today, Korean residents in Japan, both the “relocated” generation and their children and grandchildren, face discrimination in education, housing, and employment, said Taeshik Chon, also of the KYLJ.

On December 5, some 200 Tokyo cops in full riot gear raided the offices of the Association of Korean Residents in Japan and arrested several of its leaders. Most of those detained were later released without charges, according to Chon.

“Since July, the Japanese authorities have raided 47 Korean schools, businesses, and homes,” said Chon.

“Several right-wing Japanese youth have attacked Korean students,” said Munsong. “These attacks have been going on for years,” he explained, but have risen since Tokyo increased sanctions against north Korea after Pyongyang tested a missile in July and then a nuclear bomb three months later.

In October, Tokyo banned the service of a Korean ferry boat operated by the Red Cross that took humanitarian aid to north Korea. The boat was the cheapest and fastest method for Koreans living in Japan to visit their relatives in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), since Tokyo and Pyongyang do not have diplomatic relations.

According to Munsong and Chon, Korean residents in Japan have not been able to send money to their relatives in north Korea since Tokyo cut off remittances in July.

The Association of Korean Residents in Japan and the KYLJ have organized protest actions demanding Tokyo end its repression against Koreans in Japan and lift the sanctions and normalize relations with the DPRK. “We have won support in our struggle from some Japanese individuals and organizations, including trade unions,” said Chon.
 
 
Related articles:
Tokyo denies use of sex slaves for its troops during WWII
 
 
 
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