NKHIDDENGULAG
  • Home
  • About the Camps
    • Introduction
    • Kwan-li-so vs. Kyo-hwa-so
    • Locations
    • HRNK Reports
    • UN Commission of Inquiry
    • Transitional Justice
  • Blog
  • Victims
    • Prisoners
    • Women
    • Disappeared Persons
  • HRNK
    • About us
    • HRNK Insider
  • Donate

NK HIdden Gulag Blog

Young Professionals Writing Program (YPWP)

The Repatriation of Ethnic Koreans in Japan: A Project of Deception

8/6/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
​By Timothy Goo, HRNK Research Intern
Edited by Rosa Park, HRNK Director of Programs and Editor and Benjamin Fu, HRNK Research Intern
​
August 6, 2020

Between December 1959 and July 1984, more than 93,000 ethnic Koreans living in Japan returned to Supreme Leader Kim Il-sung’s communist state, North Korea, in hopes of securing a better future for themselves.[1] The assistance provided by the North Korea-affiliated General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, an organization that gained the support of more than 90% of ethnic Koreans in Japan and was often referred to as chongryun in Korean or soren in Japanese, allowed the regime to deceptively publicize itself as “paradise on Earth.”[2] One of the most effective forms of propaganda was distributing an image that included beautiful women removing luscious apples from a tree while surrounded by North Korea’s “modern” cityscapes.[3] Considering how the ethnic Korean population historically endured an arduous life in Japan due to pervasive ethnic discrimination, an absence of civil rights, and limited educational opportunities, one can deduce that this campaign motivated many Koreans to relocate to North Korea.

​The most surprising and ineluctable reality is that the vast majority of these Koreans migrating to North Korea from Japan were originally from the southern half of the Korean Peninsula.[4] However, returning to South Korea was not a viable alternative for ethnic Koreans living in Japan. Syngman Rhee, the president of South Korea at the time, refused to accept them because the country was still struggling to recover from the violent contention that occurred between 1950 and 1953.[5] As a result, many of these Koreans moved to a country that they had never actually been to before. After examining the data of the first 5,936 individuals who returned to North Korea beginning from December 1959, the social composition of those returning predominantly included workers as well as merchants, owners of small businesses, scientists, persons in the arts, specialists, office workers, peasants, students, and unemployed people.[6]

Upon arriving in North Korea, these migrants experienced a lifestyle that was completely different from what they had originally expected. North Korea was not a country that ensured prosperity and jubilation for these migrants. Instead, the country caused countless individuals to experience intense agony and live under destitute conditions that were even worse than what these migrants had experienced in Japan. They were consigned to the lower ranks of North Korea’s socio-political classification system (songbun).[7] Hiroko Sakakibara, an ethnic Korean who grew up in Japan but eventually moved to North Korea with her parents in May 1961, explained how officials coerced her father, who was a former construction worker in Japan, to perform manual farming in the countryside. Sakakibara’s father was constantly debilitated and struggled to deal with the stress of meeting his quotas. Unable to withstand the psychological and physical torment in North Korea, “he suffered a mental breakdown and was locked in a hospital for the mentally ill, where he died in 1964.”[8] Manabu Ishikawa was another individual who moved to North Korea at the age of 14 with his older sister in 1972.[9] He shared how his sister was excited to live in North Korea because she was unable to advance towards a college education in Japan and had seen an advertisement that claimed that anybody could study in North Korea. Upon arrival in North Korea, authorities informed his sister of the devastating news that women were unable to seek a college education in North Korea. The oppression in North Korea, which these two stories have demonstrated, was exacerbated by the fact that a great number of ethnic Korean migrants even received arbitrary penalties and ended up in the kwan-li-so and kyo-hwa-so prison camps.[10] Cases that involved vanishing prisoners were associated with the kwan-li-so.[11] While the North Korean government is public about operating kyo-hwa-so detention centers, they deny all former and current allegations that kwan-li-so facilities exist.[12] However, first-person testimonies from former guards, inmates, and neighbors convincingly refute North Korea’s claims concerning the kwan-li-so.[13] There is little to no doubt that many ethnic Koreans regretted their decision and sought to return to Japan. Tragically, the repatriation project was a one-way trip that intended to recruit more laborers for Kim Il-sung and diminish the ethnic Korean population in Japan.[14] At the end of the day, approximately 93,000 ethnic Koreans residing in Japan were lured to North Korea, and most were never allowed to return to Japan.[15]

However, there were some, such as Hiroko Sakakibara and Manabu Ishikawa, who were fortunate enough to escape. The escapees’ courage to risk their lives and speak publicly about their personal experiences with the media and at human rights conferences has provided valuable insight into North Korea’s past and present crimes against humanity. It is vitally important that the world makes the best use of this information by reprimanding the regime for its cruelties and demanding change, including freedom of travel for those ethnic Koreans from Japan still trapped in North Korea. Without the world’s unified cooperation and intervention, the most unimaginable and inhumane conditions will continue in North Korea. The rest of the world, undoubtedly, has the moral, ethical, and legal obligation to assist.

Timothy Goo recently completed his B.A. in International Relations at Wheaton College.
[1] Keun Woo Nam, “Rethinking the Korean Repatriation Program: The Change from an ‘Aid Economy’ to a ‘Hostage Economy’,” Korean Social Sciences Review Vol. 2, No. 2 (2012): 219-251, 
http://s-space.snu.ac.kr/bitstream/10371/79840/1/07_Nam%20Keun%20Woo_OK2.pdf.
[2] Rennie Moon, “Koreans in Japan,” Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (2010), 
​
https://spice.fsi.stanford.edu/docs/koreans_in_japan.
[3] Simon Denyer, “They were promised a ‘paradise’ in North Korea. They are now suing over the lies.,” Washington Post, September 30, 2018, 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/they-went-to-north-korea-promised-a-paradise-they-are-now-suing-over-the-lies/2018/09/28/b6a4765a-b246-11e8-a810-4d6b627c3d5d_story.html.
[4] Tessa Morris-Suzuki, “Exodus to North Korea Revisited: Japan, North Korea, and the ICRC in the ‘Repatriation’ of Ethnic Koreans from Japan,” The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus Vol. 9, No. 2 (May 24, 2011), https://apjjf.org/2011/9/22/Tessa-Morris-Suzuki/3541/article.html.
[5] “N. Korea Faces Calls to Apologize for Repatriation of Korean Japanese in 1959,” KBS World, November 11, 2013, 
http://world.kbs.co.kr/service/news_view.htm?Seq_Code=149340&lang=e.
[6] “Journal of Soviet Ambassador in the DPRK A.M. Puzanov for 4 February 1960,” History and Public Policy Program Digital Archive, AVPRF fond 0102, opis 16, delo 6 (February 4, 1960): 28-61, Translated for NKIDP by Gary Goldberg, 
https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/116276.
[7] Robert Collins, Marked for Life: Songbun, North Korea’s Social Classification System (Washington, DC: The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, 2012), https://www.hrnk.org/uploads/pdfs/HRNK_Songbun_Web.pdf.
[8] Simon Denyer, “They were promised a ‘paradise’ in North Korea. They are now suing over the lies.,” Washington Post, September 30, 2018, 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/they-went-to-north-korea-promised-a-paradise-they-are-now-suing-over-the-lies/2018/09/28/b6a4765a-b246-11e8-a810-4d6b627c3d5d_story.html.
[9] “Sixty years on, ‘returnees’ to North Korea from Japan increasingly forgotten,” The Japan Times News, December 10, 2019, 
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/12/10/national/history/returnees-to-north-korea-from-japan-forgotten/.
[10] David Hawk, The Hidden Gulag IV: Gender Repression and Prisoner Disappearances (Washington, DC: The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, 2015), 
https://www.hrnk.org/uploads/pdfs/Hawk_HiddenGulag4_FINAL.pdf.
[11] Tessa Morris-Suzuki, “Japan’s Hidden Role in the ‘Return’ of Zainichi Koreans to North Korea,” History News Network, Last Accessed July 26, 2020, http://hnn.us/articles/10199.html.
[12] David Hawk, The Hidden Gulag IV: Gender Repression and Prisoner Disappearances (Washington, DC: The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, 2015), 
https://www.hrnk.org/uploads/pdfs/Hawk_HiddenGulag4_FINAL.pdf.
[13] United Nations Human Rights Council, “Report of the commission of inquiry on human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” UN Doc. A/HRC/25/63, February 7, 2014.
[14] Elizabeth Shim, “North Korea defector seeks justice for ‘wrongful’ repatriation,” UPI, March 19, 2020, 
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2020/03/19/North-Korea-defector-seeks-justice-for-wrongful-repatriation/2491584588369/.
[15] Yoshi Yamamoto, Taken! North Korea’s Criminal Abduction of Citizens of Other Countries (Washington, DC: The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, 2011), 
https://www.hrnk.org/uploads/pdfs/Taken_LQ.pdf.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Dedication

    ​HRNK staff members and interns wish to dedicate this program to our colleagues Katty Chi and Miran Song.

    A native of Chile and graduate of the London School of Economics, Katty became a North Korean human rights defender in her early 20s. Katty was chief of international affairs with the North Korea Strategy Center (NKSC) in Seoul from 2010 to 2014 and worked with the Seoul Office of Liberty in North Korea (LiNK) from 2019 to 2020. A remarkable member of our small North Korean human rights community, Katty brought inspiration and good humor to all. Katty passed away in Seoul in May 2020, at the young age of 32. She is survived by her parents and brother living in Chile.

    A graduate of Kyung Hee University and The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Miran was a research intern at HRNK from 2012 to 2013. After graduating from Fletcher, Miran fulfilled her long-cherished dream to work in the field with international NGOs and South Korean government agencies, dedicating herself to sustainable development projects in Uganda and Ethiopia. A staunch human rights defender and passionate humanitarian, she lived her short, difficult, and meaningful life feeling blessed by the opportunity to help others. She passed away in 2022, at the young age of 31.

    With the YPWP series, we endeavor to honor Katty and Miran’s life and work.

    Greg Scarlatoiu

    If you have any questions or would like to write for us, contact us at outreach@hrnk.org.

    Categories

    All
    김일성 초상휘장
    생활총화
    청년동맹위원장과 청소년지도원
    2010 World Cup Team
    AllSource Analysis
    Arduous March
    Bitcoin
    Bithumb
    Blockchain
    China
    Coincheck
    Concentration-camps
    Crimes-against-humanity
    Cryptocurrency
    Crypto Industry
    Cyberattack
    Cybercrime
    Cyber Crime
    David Hawk
    Donald Trump
    DPRK
    DPRK Sanctions
    DPRK Sports
    FATF
    Federal Reserve Bank
    FEMA Conspiracy Theory
    FIFA
    FinCen
    Forced Abortion
    Forced Marriage
    Gender Discrimination
    Gender Repression
    Global Programme On Cybercrime
    Google Earth
    Greg Scarlatoiu
    Gulags
    Hidden Gulag
    HRNK
    Human Rights
    Human Trafficking
    Illicit
    Infanticide
    Informal Markets
    International Community
    Jangmadang
    Jangmadang Generation
    Kim Il-sung
    Kim Il-sung Badge
    Kim Il-sung Cho-sang-hui-jang
    Kim Jong-suk
    Kim Jong Un
    Kim Jong-un
    Kim Regime
    Kwan Li So
    Kwan-li-so
    Kyo Hwa So
    Kyo-hwa-so
    Laogai
    May Day Stadium
    Monero
    NK Athletes
    North Korea
    North Korean Athletes
    North Korean Economy
    North Korean Hackers
    North Korean Markets
    Olympic Games
    Payment Services Act
    Political Prisoners
    Prison Camps
    Prisoner Testimony
    PyeongChang Olympics
    Red Youth Guard
    Refugees
    Saeng-hwal-chong-hwa
    Satellite Imagery
    School
    Self-criticism
    Sexual Exploitation
    Sexual Violence
    Singapore Summit
    Summit
    Technology
    The Game Of Their Lives
    Torture
    Treasury
    Trump Kim Summit
    UN Commission Of Inquiry
    United Nations
    UN Sanctions
    U.S. Treasury Department
    Wanna Cry
    World Cup
    Youth Alliance Chairman And Youth Instructors

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    October 2021
    August 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    August 2018
    June 2018
    August 2017
    March 2017
    August 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015

      Submit a Blog Post or Ask a Question:

    Submit

    Categories

    All
    김일성 초상휘장
    생활총화
    청년동맹위원장과 청소년지도원
    2010 World Cup Team
    AllSource Analysis
    Arduous March
    Bitcoin
    Bithumb
    Blockchain
    China
    Coincheck
    Concentration-camps
    Crimes-against-humanity
    Cryptocurrency
    Crypto Industry
    Cyberattack
    Cybercrime
    Cyber Crime
    David Hawk
    Donald Trump
    DPRK
    DPRK Sanctions
    DPRK Sports
    FATF
    Federal Reserve Bank
    FEMA Conspiracy Theory
    FIFA
    FinCen
    Forced Abortion
    Forced Marriage
    Gender Discrimination
    Gender Repression
    Global Programme On Cybercrime
    Google Earth
    Greg Scarlatoiu
    Gulags
    Hidden Gulag
    HRNK
    Human Rights
    Human Trafficking
    Illicit
    Infanticide
    Informal Markets
    International Community
    Jangmadang
    Jangmadang Generation
    Kim Il-sung
    Kim Il-sung Badge
    Kim Il-sung Cho-sang-hui-jang
    Kim Jong-suk
    Kim Jong Un
    Kim Jong-un
    Kim Regime
    Kwan Li So
    Kwan-li-so
    Kyo Hwa So
    Kyo-hwa-so
    Laogai
    May Day Stadium
    Monero
    NK Athletes
    North Korea
    North Korean Athletes
    North Korean Economy
    North Korean Hackers
    North Korean Markets
    Olympic Games
    Payment Services Act
    Political Prisoners
    Prison Camps
    Prisoner Testimony
    PyeongChang Olympics
    Red Youth Guard
    Refugees
    Saeng-hwal-chong-hwa
    Satellite Imagery
    School
    Self-criticism
    Sexual Exploitation
    Sexual Violence
    Singapore Summit
    Summit
    Technology
    The Game Of Their Lives
    Torture
    Treasury
    Trump Kim Summit
    UN Commission Of Inquiry
    United Nations
    UN Sanctions
    U.S. Treasury Department
    Wanna Cry
    World Cup
    Youth Alliance Chairman And Youth Instructors

    RSS Feed

Contact Us

Picture

© 2022 Committee for Human Rights in North Korea. All rights reserved.

DONATE
  • Home
  • About the Camps
    • Introduction
    • Kwan-li-so vs. Kyo-hwa-so
    • Locations
    • HRNK Reports
    • UN Commission of Inquiry
    • Transitional Justice
  • Blog
  • Victims
    • Prisoners
    • Women
    • Disappeared Persons
  • HRNK
    • About us
    • HRNK Insider
  • Donate