Pro-Pyongyang body to pay for damages on N Korean crewmen's behalf

Good gesture for them to do this.

@Smith - I would agree there is some paranoia but on the other hand it is undeniable there are also spy networks in Japan, maybe not to the extent as to what people might want to believe but they exist.

Being that North Korea and Japan has no formal relations and therefore no consular office, it makes sense that the Chongryon would fill this role. This is a benefit of their existence. The downside of course is that they are probably spy network nests as well.

According to my friend, he himself a Korean, many of the pachinko parlors are owned by North Koreans, so they should have no trouble raising money to pay for the damages caused by the fishermen. As stated above, they were up until recently sending large amounts of remittances to North Korea until the government really cracked down on that practice.

Wow, this is interesting.

they have the resources to make payments on behalf of NK fishermen!!

should anyone be worried?

they have the resources to make payments on behalf of NK fishermen!!

About 25% of the 600,000 Korean residents in Japan belong to Chongryon. Most of these people are gainfully employed in the buoyant Japanese economy. In the past Chongryon money has been spent on buying Japanese technological and industrial products that are needed in North Korea. With the current trade bans, presumably Chongryon is flush with funds.

should anyone be worried?

Sounds like responsible behavior to me.

What is the deal with these people? If they love the Kim regime so much, what the hell are they doing in Japan?

The amount of pandering to North Koreans is Japan is pretty astounding given the relationship between the countries. There are loads of social and not so quasi PDRK political organizations and even networks of North Korean schools.

Japan would be better off deporting all North Koreans. Let them go eat tree bark, grass and sawdust in Pyongyang.

Lost? Weren't they stolen (before perhaps being lost)?

They even stole a large metal sign off its poles in front the shelter.

Not a metal sign too! Do these criminals have no sense of human decency?

I don’t support any NKs in Japan as they are sleeper agents waiting to be activated. This strangely political organization should be investigated

Kim''s grandfather created pachinko industry in Japan so that Koreans in Japan can have jobs. N. Korea receives royalty fees. Then industry grew. Pachinko Parlors are no. Longer poor.

N. Koreans live in Japan because. a majoriiiity of them were born in Japan.

Why do pro-Trump Americans live in Japan?

See? You can apply the why question to anyone in any country (expat or not "indigenous")where they are (or percevied as not belonging to) ...

Always the fear of the "other" persists.

The General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, known as Chongryon, will pay the money to the owner of the hut on an uninhabited island off Hokkaido, as it wants three North Koreans arrested on suspicion of stealing a power generator and seven other crewmen to return home as soon as possible, the source said.

Good on them. These incidents will only increase with the sanctions as people starve. Some very callous comments about deporting people and letting them eat grass. Why are there North Koreans in Japan? Why not? You can love your country without loving the people who govern it.

I agree that it is a nice and correct gesture. I would have liked to see some understanding of the Japanese fisherman corporation. After all these n Koreans are colleagues of theirs living and working in awful conditions. No, I don’t condone what they did but a bit of sympathy between fisherman would be nice to see.

People stealing to survive are not thieves persee. Send them home with some gifts would be the humain thing to do and the right or message to NK.

And no that will not lead to more of them coming and even if it did that would be a good thing, makes Kim loose more face.

banning trade. then fuel. now food. who could do such things to 25,370,000 human beings?

if i was so deparete and saw a doorknob on a deserted island in freezing conditions...

Is this helping these fisherman?

Perhaps if people of Korean origin in Japan had been given equal rights years ago, and integrated fully to Japanese citizens, their loyalties would be to Japan and not elsewhere.

OssanAmerica: "The downside of course is that they are probably spy network nests as well."

I'd say the downside is such paranoia.

It's a a nice enough gesture. I don't see why anyone would find fault with it, though people will.

bones: "they have the resources to make payments on behalf of NK fishermen!!"

Ummm... a rice cooker and a few other things? I should think so. Pro-Pyongyang ethnic Koreans often send money back to NK, which is why they whole cap on how much you can send overseas in one wire transfer started about 16 years ago. A lot of pachinko parlors are supposedly run by said residents, too. Obviously not all Korean residents here, but organizations are pretty well funded. They are also often the brunt of unfair racism and systematic abuse, and so here are trying to hold out an olive branch. DOesn't justify what the NK crew did, but it SHOULD be taken as a step towards making amends.