N.Korea’s Fifth Column in Japan Faces Bankruptcy

Chosun Ilbo ^ | 06/19/07

[TigerLikesRooster]

N.Korea’s Fifth Column in Japan Faces Bankruptcy

A police guard the head office of the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, or Chongryon, in Tokyo on Monday. A Japanese court on Monday ordered the group acting as North Korea's de facto embassy to repay huge debts initially covered by a government-backed debt relief program, in the latest blow against the Pyongyang-linked organization./AP

The General Association of Korean Residents in Japan or Chongryon, which has faithfully represented the North Korean regime in Japan and functioned as the North's espionage base against South Korea in the past half-century, is on the brink of bankruptcy.

The Tokyo District Court on Monday ordered Chongryon to repay 62.7 billion yen to the Resolution and Collection Corp., a government debt-collection body, and authorized seizure of Chongryon headquarters. Of 29 Chongryon facilities including headquarters in Tokyo, regional headquarters and schools, nine were earlier seized by the RCC and the remaining 20 are expected to be seized, depriving Chongryon of a base for its activities. Central headquarters is located in Chiyoda District, right in the center of Tokyo near the Imperial Palace and only 50 m from the militarist Yasukuni Shrine.

The reinforced concrete building has 10 stories above ground and two below with a total floor space of 11,700 sq.m on a 2,390 sq.m plot of the most expensive land in the capital, with a view of Mt. Fuji. It was to house the North Korean embassy in Japan once diplomatic relations are established.

Chongryon has mostly itself to blame. Sixteen Chongryon-affiliated credit unions went broke since the 1990s. The Japanese government put in a total of over 1 trillion yen in public funds to protect the depositors. The biggest cause of bankruptcies was illegal loans under fictitious names, a considerable portion of which is believed to have gone to the North Korean regime. Non-performing loans from the credit unions totaled 62.8 billion yen. The RCC won all 18 lawsuits involving the non-performing loans, and the court did not cut a penny from the sum RCC requested.

File photo of the 50th anniversary ceremony for the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan or Chongryon in Tokyo in May 2005./AP

Chongryon has its back against the wall. The rival Korean Residents Union in Japan or Mindan, which is pro-Seoul, on Friday expelled its leader Ha Byung-ok after he attempted reconciliation with Chongryon. The expulsion is seen as measure to protect the entire Korean community in Japan took from negative public opinion. The ex-leader, Ha Byeong-ok, on May 17 last year issued a joint statement with Chongryon declaring reconciliation, but was removed in the face of strong resistance from Mindan regional organizations. The new Mindan executive board issued an investigation report early this year saying the declaration “was a North Korean scheme to use Mindan in its unification front."

With Chongryon losing members en masse since North Korea test-fired missiles and a nuclear bomb last year, membership now accounts for less than 10 percent of Korean residents in Japan, according to Japanese authorities. It has some 20,000 to 30,000 active members. Prior to Monday’s trial, Chongryon attempted to avert seizure by selling the headquarters. In the process, it proved itself still influential enough to command support from a former chief of the Public Security Information Agency and a former head of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations. But the sale on May 31 was effected without payment and voided by the Tokyo District Prosecutors Office.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Ping!

[snowsislander]

Good riddance.

[Vigilanteman]

During the years I lived in the Tokyo area, I walked by the Chongryon building on several occasions. It always had a sinister feeling about it.

I often wondered why the Japanese felt they had to be so tolerant as to let fifth columnists operate in their midst.

Then, after 14 years there, I moved back to the United States and find we are even more tolerant of fifth columnists.

Meanwhile, the Japanese appear to value their survival and are going after Chongryon, this time without waiting for an incident like the subway sarin attacks by Aum Shirikyo. Of course, I have to admire the speed and ferocity with which they moved against Aum after the attack.

Will we ever work up the courage to do the same against the fifth columnists in our midst such as the Wahabbist mosques, CAIR, NAMBLA, the ACLU, etc.?

[Grampa Dave]

Sounds like where CAIR and the Rats in America would be without the financial support of George $oreA$$ and other super rich elites and their phoney non profits.

[TigerLikesRooster]

They are in U.S. because there are American enablers who have a political stake in perpetuating such a dangerous game. You left out La Raza.

[AU72]

Weren’t these North Koreans running most of the Pachinko Parlors in Japan?

[TigerLikesRooster]

Yep. Many of those outfits went out of business.

[Carry_Okie]

In the process, it (Chongryon) proved itself still influential enough to command support from a former chief of the Public Security Information Agency and a former head of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations.

Mediots and lawyers supporting leftists? Gosh, it sounds so familiar...

[AdmSmith]

They are run by the Yakuzas (many are Korean). A nice state organized crime!

[gaijin]

Yeah, a lot of times the J relatives were getting called up in Japan and shaken down for cash, lots of other times they were willingly coughing it up. Years ago, cash from the Pachinko biz was VERY hard to trace --it was virtually all cash. Finally, the authorities made accountability much better.

Grilled meat places are often Korean-owned, and those owners get targeted as cash-cows a lot, too, by the DPRKs.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Cant think of a finer group of folks for this to happen to!!!

[AmericanInTokyo]

Grilled meat places are often Korean-owned, and those owners get targeted as cash-cows a lot, too, by the DPRKs.

GREAT play on words you got goin' there! LOL

[TigerLikesRooster]

I agree.