North Korea Condemns 'Persecution of Zainichi Koreans' Daily... "Hate Crimes Cannot Be Forgiven"

Kim Jong-un, General Secretary of the Workers' Party of North Korea [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hee-jun] North Korea has resolved to take strong measures in response to Japan's oppression of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon) and Korean residents in Japan. Chongryon is a pro-North Korea organization in Japan that claims to be an autonomous body defending the rights and freedoms of Korean residents in Japan, but in reality, it is regarded as a vanguard of North Korea.

The Korean Central News Agency stated on the 20th, "The shameless Japanese reactionaries are daring to pick on our self-defensive measures against the anti-Republic invasion war exercises by themselves and other hostile forces, turning the entire archipelago into a chaotic arena of Korean exclusion."

The agency condemned, "It is said that there have been as many as about 10 hate crimes recently committed against Korean schools, students, and Chongryon institutions," adding, "This is a planned and organized state crime carried out by the Japanese authorities who persist in anti-Republic and anti-Chongryon hostile policies such as ethnic discrimination and oppression of Koreans."

It continued, "The Japanese reactionaries, fully participating in and leading the hostile forces' anti-DPRK invasion provocations, are shamelessly picking on us and raging against Chongryon activities. Their malicious intent lies elsewhere," and criticized, "They aim to further heighten anti-DPRK hostility throughout Japan to create a favorable environment for realizing their ambition of re-invasion."

Furthermore, it warned, "The fascist atrocities of the Japanese reactionaries who persecute Chongryon, which represents the dignity and sovereignty of our Republic, and Korean residents in Japan and their children, causing all kinds of harm, can never be forgiven," and "They should fully understand the intense resolve of our people to settle accounts with Japan and refrain from reckless provocations."

This is the first time in four days since the commentary condemning Japan's persecution of Chongryon on the 16th that North Korea has published an article directly criticizing Japan through state media. These reports appear to target recent hate crimes against Korean schools in Japan. According to Japan's Kyodo News and others, numerous hate speeches containing keywords such as "Korean" and "Korean school" have also been confirmed on Japanese social networking services (SNS).

Meanwhile, North Korea launched a medium-range ballistic missile (IRBM) over the Japanese archipelago on the 4th of last month, and on the 18th, an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launched by North Korea is estimated to have fallen within Japan's exclusive economic zone (EEZ). In response, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said, "North Korea is repeatedly conducting provocations at an unprecedented frequency," and added, "This is absolutely unacceptable."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.