Japanese people in North Korea

Last updated

Japanese people in North Korea are people of Japanese descent living in North Korea. They consist mainly of four groups: prisoners-of-war in the Soviet Union, Japanese accompanying repatriating Zainichi Korean spouses, defectors, and kidnapping victims. The number who remain alive is not known.

Contents

Background

In 1945, with the end of World War II and the collapse of the Empire of Japan, 200,000 Japanese colonists were stranded north of the 38th parallel; however, they were repatriated to Japan soon after. [1] The earliest and largest post-war influx of Japanese to North Korea was involuntary: 27,000 prisoners-of-war from the Soviet Union. Their current whereabouts are unknown; documents from Russian archives suggest that only the physically ill were sent to North Korea, while able-bodied men were retained by the Soviets to perform forced labor there. [2]

Spouses of repatriating Zainichi Koreans

Voluntary migration of Japanese to North Korea began in 1959, under a repatriation campaign for Zainichi Koreans sponsored by ethnic activist organisation and de facto North Korean embassy Chongryon. Chongryon received the tacit support of the Japanese and American governments, who saw Koreans in Japan as "Communists" and "criminals", in the words of the US ambassador to Japan at the time, Douglas MacArthur II; they welcomed the repatriation campaign as a way of reducing the ethnic minority population. [3] In total, 6,637 Japanese people are estimated to have accompanied Korean spouses to North Korea, of whom 1,828 retained their Japanese nationality. [4] The numbers of both Japanese and Koreans going to North Korea dropped sharply in the 1960s as knowledge of the poor economic conditions, social discrimination, and political repression faced by both Korean and Japanese migrants filtered back to Japan by word of mouth. [5]

According to North Korean defector Kang Chol-Hwan, himself the son of participants in the repatriation campaign, Japanese wives of North Korean men led Pyongyang's first anti-government demonstration in North Korean history, when they staged a protest appealing for permission to return home. Kang also relayed an anecdote about Kim Il Sung being shocked when one Japanese woman showed up when he was making a "spot visit" to a mine in South Hamgyong Province and personally begged to him to be allowed to go back to Japan. These two events are said to have been the impetus for the 1970s purges of migrants from Japan, in which many Chongryon members and their families were sent to detention camps or killed. [6] Two-thirds of the Japanese who migrated to North Korea are estimated to have gone missing or have never been heard from. However, in spite of the harsh political situation, migration to North Korea did not stop completely until 1984. As of 1997, North Korea had refused to provide Japan with a list of surviving Japanese in the country, and had only permitted a few small groups of 10–15 to travel to Japan. They further objected to the Japanese practice of referring to such trips as "visits home", instead preferring to call them "temporary visitors" or even "government delegations". [5]

Defections and kidnappings

The nine members of the Japanese Communist League's Red Army Faction (the predecessor of the Japanese Red Army) who hijacked Japan Airlines Flight 351 are known to have received political asylum in Pyongyang in 1970; of those, two were later arrested by Japanese police in Thailand, two died in North Korea, and five are still believed to reside in Pyongyang. Four were confirmed to be alive in 2004 when they were interviewed and photographed by Kyodo News. [7]

North Korea is also believed to have kidnapped between 70 and 80 Japanese citizens between 1977 and 1983 in order to teach the Japanese language to North Korean intelligence operatives; however, the government of North Korea officially admits to only 16 such kidnappings. [8] [9]

In 2003, Kazumi Kitagawa, a Japanese citizen and former member of Aum Shinrikyo, jumped overboard from a Chinese tourist boat on the Yalu River and swam to North Korea where she requested asylum. Her actions made her the first Japanese defector to North Korea since the Flight 351 hijacking. [10] However, after two years of living in a hotel where she reportedly had complaints about her hotel room, clothing, and constant surveillance by guards, she arranged to be returned to Japan. [11]

Notable North Koreans of Japanese Descent

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographics of North Korea</span>

The demographics of North Korea are determined through national censuses and international estimates. The Central Bureau of Statistics of North Korea conducted the most recent census in 2008, where the population reached 24 million inhabitants. The population density is 199.54 inhabitants per square kilometre, and the 2014 estimated life expectancy is 69.81 years. In 1980, the population rose at a near consistent, but low, rate. Since 2000, North Korea's birth rate has exceeded its death rate; the natural growth is positive. In terms of age structure, the population is dominated by the 15–64-year-old segment (68.09%). The median age of the population is 32.9 years, and the gender ratio is 0.95 males to 1.00 female. Since the early 1990s, the birth rate has been fairly stable, with an average of 2 children per woman, down from an average of 3 in the early 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Korean abductions of Japanese citizens</span> 1977–1983 kidnapping cases

Abductions of Japanese citizens from Japan by agents of the North Korean government took place during a period of six years from 1977 to 1983. Although only 17 Japanese citizens are officially recognized by the Japanese government as having been abducted, there may have been hundreds of others. The North Korean government has officially admitted to abducting 13 Japanese citizens.

An estimated 84,532 South Koreans were taken to North Korea during the Korean War. In addition, South Korean statistics claim that, since the Korean Armistice Agreement in 1953, about 3,800 people have been abducted by North Korea, 489 of whom were still being held in 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Koreans in Japan</span> Japanese residents of Korean origin or descent

Koreans in Japan' are ethnic Koreans who immigrated to Japan before 1945 and are citizens or permanent residents of Japan, or who are descendants of those immigrants. They are a group distinct from South Korean nationals who have immigrated to Japan since the end of World War II and the division of Korea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chongryon</span> Organisation for ethnic Koreans in Japan

The General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, abbreviated as Chongryon or Chōsen Sōren, is one of two main organisations for Zainichi Koreans, the other being Mindan. It has close ties to North Korea and functions as North Korea's de facto embassy in Japan, as there are no diplomatic relations between the two countries. The organisation is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and there are prefectural and regional head offices and branches throughout Japan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kang Chol-hwan</span> North Korean defector (born 1968)

Kang Chol-hwan is a North Korean defector, author, and the founder and president of the North Korea Strategy Center.

Yodok concentration camp was a kwalliso in North Korea. The official name was Kwan-li-so No. 15. The camp was used to segregate those seen as enemies of the state, punish them for political misdemeanors, and put them to hard labour. It was closed down in 2014.

<i>Man Gyong Bong 92</i> 1992–2013 North Korean ferry

The Man Gyong Bong 92 is a cargo-passenger ferry, named after a hill near Pyongyang. The ferry was built in 1992 with funds from Chongryon, the pro-North Korean General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, and was used to transport passengers and cargo between North Korea and Japan. These voyages continued until 2006 when Japan banned North Korean ships from its waters. In 2011 the ship trialed a route between Rason and Mount Kumgang. In 2018, the ship carried a 140 person delegation, as well as an art troupe, for the 2018 Winter Olympics and docked in Mukho port.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Government of North Korea</span> National government of North Korea

In the North Korean government, the Cabinet is the administrative and executive body. The North Korean government consists of three branches: administrative, legislative, and judicial. However, they are not independent of each other, but all branches are under the exclusive political leadership of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK).

The Onsong concentration camp was an internment camp in Changpyong, Onsong County, North Hamgyong, North Korea. It housed approximately 15,000 political prisoners. The camp was officially known as Concentration Camp (Kwan-li-so) No. 12.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jo Myong-rok</span> North Korean military officer

Jo Myong-rok was a North Korean military officer who held the military rank Chasu. In 1998, he was appointed first vice-chairman of the National Defence Commission of North Korea, Director of the Korean People's Army General Political Bureau. Previously, he was the commander of the air defence forces.

<i>Dear Pyongyang</i> 2005 Japanese documentary

Dear Pyongyang is a documentary film by Zainichi Korean director Yang Yong-hi about her family. It was shot in both Yang's hometown of Osaka, Japan, and Pyongyang, North Korea. The film has both Korean and Japanese dialogue with subtitles. The US release has Korean and Japanese dialogue with English subtitles. In August 2006, Yang released a book in Japanese under the same title expanding on the themes she explored in the film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Okryu-gwan</span> Restaurant in Pyongyang, North Korea

Okryu-gwan or Okryu Restaurant is a restaurant in Pyongyang, North Korea, founded in 1960. South Korea analyst Andrei Lankov describes it as one of two restaurants, the other being Ch'ongryugwan, which have "defined the culinary life of Pyongyang" since the 1980s, and a "living museum of culinary art".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Japan–North Korea relations</span> Bilateral relations

Japan–North Korea relations refers to international relations between Japan and North Korea. Relations between Japan and North Korea have never been formally established, but there have been diplomatic talks between the two governments to discuss the issue of kidnapped Japanese citizens and North Korea's nuclear program. Relations between the two countries are severely strained and marked by tension and hostility. According to a 2014 BBC World Service poll, 91% of Japanese people view North Korea's influence negatively, with just 1% expressing a positive view; the most negative perception of North Korea in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Death and state funeral of Kim Jong Il</span> 2011 death of the leader of North Korea

The death of Kim Jong Il was reported by North Korean state television news on 19 December 2011. The presenter Ri Chun-hee announced that he had died on 17 December at 8:30 am of a massive heart attack while travelling by train to an area outside Pyongyang. Reportedly, he had received medical treatment for cardiac and cerebrovascular diseases, and during the trip, Kim was said to have had an "advanced acute myocardial infarction, complicated with a serious heart shock". However, it was reported in December 2012 by South Korean media that the heart attack had instead occurred in a fit of rage over construction faults in a crucial power plant project at Huichon in Chagang Province.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Reunification Prize</span>

The National Reunification Prize is an award of North Korea, bestowed by the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly upon people who have contributed to the reunification of Korea. The award was instituted in 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kim Yang-gon</span> North Korean politician

Kim Yang-gon was a North Korean politician and a senior official of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Front Department of the Workers' Party of Korea</span> North Korean governmental agency tasked with relations with South Korea

The United Front Department of the Workers' Party of Korea is a department of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) tasked with relations with South Korea. It conducts propaganda operations and espionage and manages front organizations, including the Chongryon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hwang Sun-hui</span> North Korean politician (1919–2020)

Hwang Sun-hui was a North Korean politician who served in several high-ranking positions in the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), including in the Supreme People's Assembly and the Central Committee of the WPK. She was affiliated with the Korean Revolution Museum from 1965, and was its director from 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">8th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea</span> 2021 party congress in North Korea

The 8th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea was held at the April 25 House of Culture in Pyongyang from 5 to 12 January 2021. A total of 7,000 people participated in the congress including 5,000 delegates. The Party Congress took place in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic where no cases were reported.

References

  1. ↑ Kim, Young Sik (2003-10-28). "The left-right confrontation in Korea – Its origin". Association for Asian Research. Archived from the original on 2007-02-27. Retrieved 2007-03-15.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. ↑ "Russia Acknowledges Sending Japanese Prisoners of War to North Korea". Mosnews.com. 2005-04-01. Archived from the original on 2006-11-13. Retrieved 2007-02-23.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. ↑ Morris-Suzuki, Tessa (2007-03-13). "The Forgotten Victims of the North Korean Crisis". Nautilus Institute. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved 2007-03-15.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. ↑ North Korea. Library of Congress Country Studies. 1994. Retrieved 2007-03-16. See section "Koreans Living Overseas".
  5. 1 2 Kim, Yong Mok (November 1997). "The Dilemma of North Korea's Japanese Wives". Japan Policy Research Institute Critique. 4 (10). Archived from the original on 2006-09-27. Retrieved 2007-03-16.
  6. ↑ Kang, Chol-hwan (2003-12-05). "Ethnic Koreans in Japan Victimized by the North Korean Regime's Fraud". The Chosun Ilbo . Retrieved 2007-03-16.
  7. ↑ "Movements of the Japanese Red Army and the "Yodo-go" Group"" (PDF). National Police Agency, Japan. 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-03-23. Retrieved 2007-03-15.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  8. ↑ Asian Political News (Kyodo) (2002-11-25). "N. Korean defector says 70-80 Japanese abducted by North". Asian Political News. Archived from the original on 2008-12-06. Retrieved 2007-03-15.
  9. ↑ "North Korea rejects DNA link to Megumi Yokota abduction case". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2011-08-20. Retrieved 2007-03-15.
  10. ↑ Green, Shane (2003-11-21). "Cult saga of sex, spies and defection". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  11. ↑ "Defector gives up on North Korea". BBC News. 2005-11-03. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.