North Korea runs schools in Japan

[Twoller]

This is an interesting article that introduced some bits of life in Japan with regards to immigration and the presence of foreigners in Japanese society.

Tuition plan ban on Korea schools eyed

Nakai wants to link subsidies to abductions

Kyodo News

Hiroshi Nakai, minister in charge of the abduction issue, has asked education minister Tatsuo Kawabata to bar schools that cater to the children of residents with ethnic ties to North Korea from the planned tuition-free subsidy program, government sources said.

As a result of Nakai's request, Kawabata and other lawmakers in charge of education have opened formal deliberations on "chosen gakko," or North Korean schools, the sources said.

When the new academic year begins in April, the government will scrap tuition for public high schools and provide a per-student subsidy of ¥120,000 a year to families whose children attend private high schools, including those institutions catering to foreign students.

According to the education ministry, there are 73 chosen gakko across Japan whose educational activities are authorized by prefectural governments.

Twelve of them are the equivalent of high schools and called "kokyu gakko." All 73 are operated in close collaboration with Chongryon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chongryon), a pro-Pyongyang organization also known as the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan.

Nakai apparently wants the exemption put in place to demonstrate Japan's firm stance on the abduction issue to get Pyongyang to finally account for the fate of Japanese nationals who were spirited away by North Korean agents in the past, the sources said.

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There is more to the article at this link:

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20100222a2.html

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http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20100310f1.html

Kids at pro-North high schools fret tuition waiver snub

Institutions risk being hostage to row over Pyongyang's abductions

By JUN HONGO
Staff writer

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"The abduction issue has been certified by the Japanese government as an illegal act conducted by North Korea," Hashimoto said earlier this month. If pro-Pyongyang schools have strong ties with the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon), which acts as North Korea's unofficial embassy, tax money should not be provided to them, Hashimoto has said.

Nakai and Hashimoto's views are widely shared by rightwing groups, which criticize chosen gakko for their links with the North. Although he denies any connection between the tuition waivers and the abduction issue, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama acknowledged that the curriculum at pro-Pyongyang schools may raise questions about their eligibility.

Under the bill, which is expected to clear the Diet by the end of March, in time for the start of the new school year in April, subsidies for schools will be provided only if they are deemed to provide education equivalent to Japanese high schools. Ministry directives are expected to determine their eligibility by comparing education at schools catering to foreign students with the curriculum in their home countries, as well as guidelines in Japan.

Some lawmakers in the ruling coalition say the education ministry cannot compare the curriculum at pro-Pyongyang schools with those of North Korea because Japan and the North don't have diplomatic relations.

But others, including Social Democratic Party head Mizuho Fukushima and Shizuka Kamei, leader of Kokumin Shinto (People's New Party), are opposed to excluding the schools, saying there is no need to discriminate against them.

Pro-Pyongyang schools have been operating in Japan since the 1950s, set up by Koreans who stayed in Japan after being conscripted by the military during the war, or who came here to work or were brought over for forced labor.

Korean students today are split between those affiliated with the North and those with South Korean nationality.

The pro-Pyongyang schools have long been criticized by the Japanese media for lauding North Korean leaders, including Kim Jong Il and his father, Kim Il Sung, and putting their pictures in classrooms.

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The entire article is at the above link.

[Twoller]

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20100318a2.html

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Include pro-North schools in tuition waiver: U.N. panel

Concerns over threatened discrimination

GENEVA (Kyodo) A U.N. panel monitoring racial equality and nondiscrimination expressed concern Tuesday about Japan's possible exclusion of pro-Pyongyang schools for Korean residents from its planned tuition waiver program for public high school students.

In a report, the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination said it "expresses concern about acts that have discriminatory effects on children's education, including . . . the approach of some politicians suggesting the exclusion of North Korean schools" from the program.

The panel urged Tokyo to "ensure that there is no discrimination in the provision of educational opportunities."

The discriminatory acts concerned also include "the differential treatment of schools for foreigners and descendants of Korean and Chinese residing in (Japan), with regard to public assistance, subsidies and tax exemptions," it said.

The panel also said Japan needs laws to fight racial discrimination and protect foreign residents and minorities, countering Tokyo's view that a national antidiscrimination law is not necessary.

The report, which contains around 20 policy recommendations, concludes the committee's review of Japan's record on fighting racism, held at the end of February.

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The rest of the article is at the above link.