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The legal system in Japan runs a strict protocol to help ensure fairness. Rules must be followed to the letter without bias, even if there are times when bias is usually screaming at you to stop in the name of common sense. It’s times like these that the supreme leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un, is summoned to appear in Tokyo District Court.
Court summons are usually delivered directly to the person, but if there is no response or the address is unknown, then it is publicly posted outside the courthouse. Such is the case with this summons which was spotted by a passerby and posted to Twitter.
▼ “There was a crowd in front of the Tokyo District Court bulletin board, so when I went to look.
The infamous dictator is the target of a 500 million-yen lawsuit by five plaintiffs who claimed that they were mislead into moving to the rogue state and forced to live a harsh life. Anyone hearing this today would probably laugh at such a ridiculous idea, but it wasn’t so crazy back in 1959.
This was when North Korea began the Zainichi Chosenjin no Kikan Jigyo, a program to give Koreans living in Japan a chance to repatriate back to their homeland. At this time communism was a far more new and attractive notion and a some people were betting on North Korea emerging as the more successful of the two halves of the relatively recently divided Korea, so many answered the call.
▼ A Zainichi Chosenjin no Kikan Jigyo ship bound for North Korea in 1960
At the same time, North Korea was eager to receive people from Japan in hopes of getting skilled labor to help it grow, so it promoted relocation by calling the country “a paradise on Earth.” Between 1959 and 1984 some 93,000 people, nearly 7,000 of whom were of Japanese descent, made the trip to the DPRK.
As we all now know, North Korea fell short of the “paradise” mark in the ensuing decades, unicorns notwithstanding, and at least five of those thousands who made the journey are disgruntled enough to sue. However, Kim Jong-un wasn’t even alive at the time, so why is he the one being sued?
International law makes it very difficult to sue a foreign government from your own country, but this problem is made painfully simple in Japan because it doesn’t even recognize North Korea as a country in the first place. This leaves the Supreme Leader himself as the defendant, presumably because he is the representative of his late grandfather Kim Il-Sung’s estate.
Will all the legal issues sorted, now it’s just a matter of getting the guy into a courtroom – something that readers of the news suspect might be tricky.
“100-percent impossible, LOL.”
“I’d laugh if he showed up.”
“Someone should call him on a black telephone.”
“If you ask me, the people who actually took that offer in the first place are kind of suspicious.”
“Offer him tickets to Tokyo Disneyland and then hit him with the summons when he comes out. It works every time!”
“Can they fax it to him?”
“Maybe he’ll fire over a 100 million-yen missile as compensation.”
“If he did appear in court it would probably catch everyone off guard and he’d win.”
If anyone, Kim Jong-un does seem like the kind of guy full of himself enough to saunter into court like Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men and give everyone a mouthful in spite of all sense of self-preservation.
Word of the lawsuit probably hasn’t even come close to reaching him though, so in all likelihood Kim Jong-un will fail to appear in a court and the judge will rule in favor of the plaintiffs and issue an order for Kim Jong-un to pay the amount sought in full. In fact, almost the exact same situation played out in South Korea where the North Korean leader is currently on the hook for about $34,000.
Still, in matters like these it’s often said that it isn’t about the money but the principle, so hopefully the plaintiffs can find at least some cold comfort in their impending court victory.
Source: Twitter/@nagoyanokaori, YouTube/FNNプライムオンライン, Hachima Kiko
Read more stories from SoraNews24.
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-- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to star in upcoming run ‘n’ gun video game based on his life
-- Kim Jong-un clones on the loose, hiding out in China【Photos】
- External Link
- https://soranews24.com/2021/08/27/kim-jong-un-summoned-to-appear-in-tokyo-district-court/
45 Comments
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Sheikh Yerboaby
what a nice waste of the court system's time
Kyo wa heiwa dayo ne
If Korea and Japan and china and Russia and the west and its allies world history books all told the same story then it would be much easier to have a discussion on this topic
kennyG
@William.
Japan did never destroy nor split Korea and Korea Chose Japan over others
“But, at that time, we chose it by ourselves. It is not Japan invaded our land. Our ancestors chose it. If we chose Qing Dynasty that soon perished, we would have had more chaos on the peninsula. If we chose Russia that soon got overturned, we would have had the entire peninsula turned to a communist country. It might not be the best but if we were to chose, I valued choosing Japan as second best.”
President of Korea Chunghee Park
Perhaps if your history started long before enough, perhaps, it would be even more logical to judge it is Western colonialism that should bear such ultimate responsibility then, unless you believe you know world history, especially the one of Korean peninsula better than Park Chunghee
William Bjornson
Subsequent to WHAT, gentlemen? World History did not begin in 1945 and Korea was not destroyed civilly, as an independent civil entity, by either the US or the USSR but by forced annexation to the 'Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere', you MAY have heard of it albeit these comments suggest that history is clearly not a strong suit in your perceptions...
And perhaps a review of the word 'ultimate' might enhance your understanding of 'history'. It generally means what came before...
And regarding "moronic", I've read some of your previous comments and, of all commenters here...I know Mods, but I didn't state the obvious...
itsonlyrocknroll
After all, Kim Jong-un has bigger nuts to crack, allegedly accused quote (JT/AFP) of restarted its plutonium-producing reprocessing reactor
itsonlyrocknroll
lets be realistic, what is the likelihood Kim Jong-un will answer the summons in person?
OssanAmerica
These Korean-Japanese are suing the DPRK, and not Japan. Read the article.
kennyG
and the ultimate responsibility for there being TWO KOREAS at all?
Always think one of the most moronic statements which could be made only by those living in some kind of cultic world.
Nickyhige
Really? Show us some links.
kennyG
If you are serious, you wouldn't need a day to realize how Japan tried to retain Korean cultural artifacts.
kennyG
Japan is the only OECD country which entitles SPECIAL green cards to a specific group of foreigners in the country, who are not willing to become Japanese citizen
shogun36
Now, That would be some neat trick.
Talk about your NON-news. Who wrote this garbage?
what’s next?
The Japanese govt gonna invite the taliban to a pot luck picnic?
how about they give Putin a LINE and tell em the last beer garden of the summer is gonna close. Tell him we want one last nomikai of the summer.
YuriOtani
@William Bjornson, the reason there are 2 Korean countries is because of the spilt done by the USA and Soviet Union. I suppose Japan should of have let Russia or China take over Korea.
William Bjornson
Since we are attempting to sue for historical torts, how much might the two Koreas ask from Japan for 35 years of murder, torture, destruction of cultural artifacts, and the ultimate responsibility for there being TWO KOREAS at all? I think a countersuit by Bukhan would more than cover any recoveries obtained by these five silly individuals who want to blame others for their own foolishness, and Japan for taking them seriously and not charging the Plaintiffs for 'frivolous lawsuit' and whoever approved this action as unfit to serve. If falling for deceptive sales pitches were recoverable torts, the curse of Corporate would have been solved long ago.
3RENSHO
"The infamous dictator is the target of a 500 million-yen lawsuit by five plaintiffs who claimed that they were mislead [SIC} into moving to the rogue state and forced to live a harsh life."
The past tense of mislead is misled. "Lead" is a heavy and dense metal used in the manufacture of batteries.
oldman_13
Kim Jong-un should issue a reply through his spokeswoman, just to show how ridiculous this all is.
Aly Rustom
Agree! Real Leg slapper that one!!
Charlie Sommers
Designer 02 Aug. 29 06:23 am JST said;
"Totally ridiculous. Why poke a sleeping bear"
Perhaps overstated a bit, more like an Australian drop bear.
Samit Basu
@OssanJapan
Of course Japan bears its own share of guilt.
The Japanese government was fully aware of what this repatriation program was really like once the repatriated arrived in North Korea, yet the Japanese government knowingly promoted this program among North Koreans in order to get rid of North Koreans, even if that meant some 1,800 Japanese wives of North Korean men would be sent away into the hell as well.
http://edition.cnn.com/WORLD/9709/10/japan.korea/
GBR48
This is not rare. It is becoming increasing common for people to do something stupid and then demand compensation when it inevitably goes wrong. Sending naked selfies for example. Assess risk properly and be prepared to take responsibility for your own idiocy without whining for compensation.
But hey, if it is OK with the Japanese courts to demand compensation for promises not kept: Abe promised to level up Japan for women. He had the time, money and power. Half the population of Japan can now sue the government.
gonemad
Doesn't Japan have a statute of limitations?
gaijintraveller
It should be remembered that at that time the South was a rather unpleasant dictatorship run by a rather unpleasant dictator. Neither the North nor the South were free countries.
kennyG
During the same period, The South had been rejecting accepting the repatriation of it's citizen.
OssanAmerica
Ethnic Korean residents in Japan have been wronged and hurt by North Korea. Yet the usual SK crowd remain silent since they can't bash Japan on this.
Peter14
Because this summons can only improve relations between Japan and North Korea. And because Japan does not really want North Korea to return stolen citizens (assuming there are any).
Not a very smart move from people who want something they think North Korea has.
englisc aspyrgend
Once they get the judgement they should invite the media to their publicly posting the demand for payment to his official residence! Then sit back and wait for his attack dog sister to froth at the mouth. They might not get paid but the entertainment value might almost be value enough!
Joe Unc
Rope.
Robert Cikki
LOL, good luck. And we spend money on this.. Everyone knows the result of his appearance
ShinkansenCaboose
North Korea is awesome.
Iron Lad
He looks kinda handsome there.
Garthgoyle
I read the title of the article, scrolled down to see if it was by SoraNews coz it has to, and yes, it is.
Mocheake
I hope he sends them a letter telling them to stick the summons where the sun doesn't shine. It would truly make my day.
Alfie Noakes
Sora News, always good for a laugh.
Kuruki
BAHAHAHAHAH
Why would he even show up? He has no obligations...
Sven Asai
Btw. It would instead be the total end, if he really would abide and come with everything he has. You wouldn’t really wish for that to happen, I am quite sure.
bokuda
Here's his address, is public knowledge. You can find the postal code, don't make me do all the work for you:
Kim Jong-un
Ryongsong Residence
Pyongyang
Paul
LOL a waste of plaintiff's money.
Jim
Let sleeping dogs lie…
OssanAmerica
These Plaintiffs are all Korean-Japanese who were forced to choose a nationality between South Korea and North Korea at the end of WWII by the Allies. Many of those people chose not for political reasons but based on where on the Korean Penninsia their family originally came from. They were completely tricked into believing the North Korean propganda about the wonderful life awaiting them in the Worker's Paradise.
I say by all means sue Kim Jong Un in his capacity as sole represetative of the entire DPRK. He's obviously not going to even fight in a Court in Japan so the Plaintiff can win a default judgement in their favor. And to collect on the judgement the Court shoud allow the seizure of North Korean Schools and Chongryon (朝鮮総連) buildings and facilities.
Hiro
Waw. Looking back at that old picture, dude sure look slim compare to now.
Designer 02
Totally ridiculous. Why poke a sleeping bear