Zainichi Korean

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Zainichi Koreans (Japanese: 在日朝鮮人 Zainichi Chōsenjin; Korean: 재일조선인 Jaeil Joseonin) are the permanent ethnic Korean residents of Japan. They are often called "Zainichi" for short. Alternative terms are 在日韓国人 Zainichi Kankokujin (Korean: 재일한국인 Jaeil Hangugin) for those with South Korean nationality; or Jaeil Dongpo (재일동포) used by Koreans on the Korean peninsula. The term 在日コリアン zainichi korian is sometimes used to refer to all Koreans regardless of nationality.

Strictly speaking, the term refers only to long term, permanent residents of Japan who have either retained their Joseon (the old, undivided Korea) or South Korean nationalities, not ethnic Koreans who have acquired Japanese nationality through naturalisation.

The Japanese word Zainichi itself means "staying in Japan." For example, Zainichi-Gaikokujin (在日外国人) refers to "foreign nationals living in Japan," while Zainichi-Beigun (在日米軍) refers to United States Forces Japan. However, "Zainichi" on its own usually refers to Zainichi Koreans because of their significant presence in Japanese society.

Zainichi Koreans constitute the largest ethnic minority group in Japan.

Contents

[edit] Statistics

According to the statistics at Immigration Bureau of Japan[1] there were 613,791 Zainichi Korean as of year 2003. It seems that Zainichi would include permanent residents, long-term visitors, and students, but not naturalized citizens.

  • Number of ethnic Koreans living in Japan (as of 2005): 901,284
  • Permanent residents in general and special categories: 515,570
  • Naturalized citizens: 284,840
  • Long-term visitors: 82,666
  • Korean students in Japan: 18,208

source: [2]

[edit] History

[edit] Origins

Modern Zainichi Koreans can trace their diaspora to the early 20th century under the Imperial Japanese rule. In 1910, as the result of Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty, Korean people all became subjects of the Empire of Japan. Japanese land and production confiscation initiatives against Korean farmers during the 1910s caused a wave of economic migrants during the 1920s. Also noteworthy was the large number of Jeju-do residents who migrated to Japan to escape discrimination in Korea during this period.

Koreans in mainland Japan, as citizens of the Japanese empire, technically had equal civil rights with Japanese people; some, such as 1936 Olympic gold medalist Sohn Kee-chung even represented Japan in international sporting events. There were also seats allocated in the Imperial Diet for elected representatives and aristocracy from Korea. However, most Koreans in Japan were subject to considerable social prejudice. The most severe example was in the aftermath of the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, when race riots resulted in the deaths of 231 Koreans, as well as assaults and property crimes against an unknown number of others; in total, 362 Japanese were charged with crimes relating to violence against Koreans during this period. Ironically, some Japanese government officials later suggested moving the capital to Gyeongseong (modern-day Seoul) so that the elected officials could be safe from earthquakes.[citation needed]

[edit] During World War II

Between 1939 and 1945, labour shortages due to World War II led to a series of official policies which recruited Koreans to work in Japan, including Karafuto Prefecture (present-day Sakhalin, now part of Russia). Increasing elements of coersion and deception culminated in the mobilisation of Japanese civilians for labour being extended to Korea in 1944. Those who were brought to Japan were forced to work in factories, in mines and as labourers, often under appalling conditions. Most of the wartime labourers went home after the war, but some remained in Japan. In particular, 43,000 of those in Karafuto, which had been occupied by the Soviet Union just prior to Japan's surrender, were refused repatriation to either mainland Japan or the Korean peninsula, and were thus trapped in Sakhalin, stateless; they became the ancestors of the Sakhalin Koreans.[3] A 1982 survey by the Korean Youth Association showed that conscripted labour accounts for 13.3% of first-generation zainichi Koreans.

Koreans were still Japanese nationals in 1945.

[edit] Loss of Japanese nationality

Japan's defeat in the war left the nationality status of Zainichi Koreans in an ambiguous position in terms of law. The Alien Registration Ordinance (外国人登録令) in May 2, 1947, classified all Korean-Japanese as foreign nationals. Their nationality was provisionally registered under the name of Joseon (Japanese: Chōsen, 朝鮮), the old name of undivided Korea.

In 1948, the northern and southern parts of Korea declared independence individually, that made Joseon, or the old undivided Korea, a defunct nation. The new government of Republic of Korea (South Korea) made a request to the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers, then the occupying power of Japan, to change the nationality registration of Zainichi Koreans to Daehan Minguk (Daikan Minkoku in Japanese, 大韓民國, 대한민국), the official name of the new nation. Following this, from 1950 onwards, Zainichi Koreans were allowed to voluntarily re-register their nationality as such.

The Allied occupation of Japan ended in April 28, 1952 with the San Francisco Peace Treaty, in which Japan formally abandoned her territorial claim to the Korean Peninsula, and as a result, Zainichi Koreans formally lost their Japanese nationality.[4]

The division on the Korean peninsula led to division among Koreans in Japan. Mindan, or the Korean Residents Union in Japan, was set up on 1946 as a pro-South offshoot of Choren (League of Koreans in Japan) - the main Korean resident's organisation which had a socialist ideology. Following the May Day riots of 1952, the pro-North organisation was made illegal, but it reformed under various guises which went on to form the "General Association of Korean Residents in Japan", or Chongryon in 1955. This organisation kept to its socialist, and by extension pro-North stance, and enjoyed the active financial support and advisement of the North Korean government.

In 1965 Japan concluded Treaty on Basic Relations with South Korea and recognized the South Korean government as the only legitimate government of Korea.

[edit] Division between Chongryon and Mindan

Out of the two Korean organisations in Japan, the pro-North Chongryon has been the more militant in terms of retaining their ethnic identity. Its policies included:

  • Operation of about 60 ethnic Korean schools across Japan, initially partly funded by the North Korean government, in which lessons were conducted in Korean. They maintain a strong pro-North Korean ideology, which have sometimes come under criticism from pupils, parents and the public alike. Until very recently, graduates of Chongryon schools were not even permitted to take public university entrance exams, as they were not legally classified as regular schools, but rather in the same category as cooking or driving schools.
  • Discouraging its members from marrying Japanese.
  • Chongryon-operated businesses and banks to provide the necessary jobs, services and social networks for Zainichi Koreans outside of mainstream society.
  • Opposition to zainichi Korean's right to vote or participation in Japanese elections, which they saw as an unacceptable attempt at assimilation into Japanese society. [5]
  • A campaign in the late 1950's to persuade Zainichi Koreans to migrate to North Korea, which it hailed as a socialist "Paradise on Earth". Some 90,000 Zainichi Koreans and their Japanese spouses moved to the North before the migration eventually died down as the appalling conditions which awaited them became increasingly clear.

Pro-North Zainichi who maintained their Joseon nationalities have been called "North Koreans in Japan" in English by writers such as Sonia Ryang. While this term is not technically incorrect, it is somewhat misleading. Zainichi Chōsenjin in the vast majority of cases settled in Japan before the modern state of North Korea was instituted, and in the vast majority of cases originate from the south of the Korean Peninsula. Their status as "North Koreans" is based almost entirely on their historical ideological loyalties.

Well into at least the 1970's, Chongryon was the dominant Zainichi group, and in some ways remains more politically significant today in Japan. However, the widening disparity between the political and economic conditions of the two Koreas has since made Mindan, the pro-South Korean group, the larger and certainly the less politically controversial faction. 65% of Zainichi are now said to be affiliated to Mindan. The number of pupils receiving ethnic education from Chongryon-affiliated schools have declined sharply, with many, if not most, Zainichi now opting to send their children to mainstream Japanese schools. Some Chongryon schools have been closed for lack of funding, and there is serious doubt as to the continuing viability of the system as a whole. (Mindan has also traditionally operated a school system for the children of its members, although it has been always been less widespread and organized compared to its Chongryon counterpart, and is said to be nearly defunct at the present time.)

In 1990 Su-to Ha, former vice chief of organization for Chongryon who was expelled in 1972 for demanding democratic reforms, led a rally in Tokyo of 500 to protest against North Korea's human rights violations, in which protesters accused North Korea of holding some 93,000 ex-Zainichi returnees captive in order to siphon money off remittances from their relatives in Japan.

[edit] Integration into Japanese society

Zainichi today have established a stable existence in Japan after decades of intense hardship. Years of activism, such as Mintohren, and community support by Zainichi organizations (Mindan, Chongryon, Mintoren, among others), other minority groups (Ainu, Burakumin, Ryūkyūans, Uilta, Nivkhs and others), and sympathetic Japanese have improved the societal atmosphere for Zainichi in Japan.

Most younger Zainichi, and the vast majority of those affiliated with Mindan which never had a particularly strong ideological base, now speak only Japanese, work for Japanese firms and increasingly marry Japanese. Some opt to gain Japanese citizenship though naturalisation; according the statistics at the Ministry of Justice of Japan,[6] about 10,000 Koreans naturalize in Japan every year. Others choose to retain their South Korean or Joseon nationality as part of their heritage (neither Japanese or South Korean nationality laws allow multiple citizenship for adults).

[edit] Residents Registration

Japan used to take fingerprints as part of the registration process for foreign residents, a policy which has been a subject of much controversy, especially among resident Koreans. After many years of campaigning, the requirement was abolished in 1992 for those with "Special Permanent Residents" status i.e. zainichi Koreans. In 1999, the Alien Registration Law was further amended to eliminate fingerprinting of foreign residents in general. Mindan expressed disappointment as it did not eliminate the requirement that foreign residents carry their registration cards at all times, and Koreans protested in Tokyo alongside Thais, Filipinos and Brazilians dressed in traditional costumes of their homelands.

[edit] Right to vote & government employment

Long-term ethnic Korean residents of Japan who have not taken up Japanese nationality currently have the legal status of Tokubetsu Eijusha ("Special Permanent Residents") and are granted special rights and privileges compared to other foreigners, especially in matters such as re-entry and deportation statutes. These privileges were originally given to residents with South Korean nationality in 1965, and were extended in 1991 to cover those who have retained their "Joseon nationality".

Over the decades, zainichi Koreans have been campaigning to re-gain their Japanese citizenship rights without having to adopt Japanese nationality. Right to claim social welfare benefits was granted in 1954, followed by access to the national health insurance scheme (1960's) and state pensions (1980's). There is some doubt over the legality of some of these payments as the Public Assistance Law, which governs social welfare payments, is seen to apply to "Japanese nationals".

There have also been campaigns to allow zainichi Koreans to take up government employment and participate in elections, rights which have been open to Japanese nationals only. Since 1992 Mindan has been campaigning for the right to vote in elections for prefectural and municipal assemblies, mayors and prefecture governors, backed by the South Korean government. In 1997 Kawasaki became the first municipality to hire a Korean national. So far, three prefectures - Osaka, Nara and Kanagawa, have granted voting rights to permanent foreign residents. However, the Japanese Diet has not yet passed a resolution regarding this matter despite several attempts by political parties to do so, and there is considerable public and political opposition against granting voting rights to those who have not yet adopted Japanese nationality.

Chongryon, on the other hand, opposes moves to allow zainichi Koreans to participate in Japanese politics, on the basis that it assimilates Koreans into Japanese society and thus weakening the Korean ethnic identity.

[edit] Korean Schools

The pro-Pyongyang Chongryon operates 218 Korean schools (chosen gakko 朝鮮学校 or chosǒn hakkyo 조선학교) across Japan, including kindergartens and one university. All lessons, and all conversations within the school are conducted in Korean. They teach a strong pro-North Korean ideology and allegiance to Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il. (Mindan also operates a few schools but are said to be nearly defunct.) They are not classified as regular schools under Japanese law as they do not follow the national curriculum, but rather as "miscellaneous schools" alongside driving schools. This has led to many discrepancies with regular Japanese schools which Chongryon calls discriminatory.

One of the issues is funding. The schools were originally set up and run with support from the North Korean government but this money has now dried up, and with dropping pupil numbers, many schools are facing financial difficulties. The Japanese government has refused Chongryon's requests that it funds ethnic schools in line with regular Japanese schools, citing Article 89 of the Japanese Constitution, where use of public funds for education by non-public bodies is prohibited. In reality the schools are in fact partly funded by local authorities, but subsidies takes place in the form of special benefits paid to the families of pupils, as opposed to paying the schools directly, in order to avoid a blatant breach of Article 89. It is also much less than regular Japanese schools.

Another issue is an examination called the High School Equivanency Test, or daiken, which qualifies those who have not graduated from a regular high school to apply for a place in a state university and take an entrance exam. Until recently, only those who have completed compulsory education (i.e. up to junior high school) were entitled to take daiken; this meant pupils of ethnic schools had to do extra courses before being allowed to take the exam. In 1999 the requirement was amended so that anyone over a certain age are qualified. Campaigners were not satisfied because this still meant graduates of non-Japanese high schools had to take daiken. In 2003, the Education Ministry removed the requirement to take the Equivalency Test from graduates of Chinese schools, Mindan-run Korean schools and international schools affiliated with Western nations and accredited by U.S. and British organisations. However this did not apply to graduates of pro-Pyongyang Korean schools, saying it could not approve their curriculums. The decision was left up to individual universities, 70% of which allowed Korean school graduates to apply directly. [7]

[edit] Tsumei (Japanese names)

Traditionally Zainichi Koreans used tsumei, or Japanese names in public, primarily to avoid discrimination, but recent trends for some Zainichis, including celebrities and professional sportsmen, to use their Korean names reflect the diminishing levels of prejudice in Japanese society. Masayoshi Son, often considered the up-and-coming Bill Gates of Japan, does not attempt to disguise his Korean heritage. Other well-known Japanese of Korean descent include Hanshin Tigers star Tomoaki Kanemoto and pro wrestlers Riki Choshu and Akira Maeda, although these individuals continue to use their Japanese names.

[edit] Controversies over Chongryon

Main article: Chongryon

For a long time, Chongryon enjoyed unofficial immunity from searches and investigations, partly because authorities were reluctant to carry out any actions which may provoke not only accusations of racism but lead to an international incident. Chongryon has long been suspected of a variety of criminal acts on behalf of North Korea, such as illegal transfer of funds to North Korea and espionage, but no action were taken. However, recent escalating tensions between and Japan and North Korea over a number of issues, namely North Korea's abduction of Japanese nationals which came to light in 2002 as well as its nuclear weapons programme, has led to a resurgence of public animosity against Chongryon. Chongryon schools have alleged numerous cases of verbal abuse and physical violence directed against their students and buildings, and Chongryon facilites have been targets of protests and occasional incidents. The Japanese authorities have recently started to crack down on Chongryon, with investigations and arrests for charges ranging from tax evasion to espionage. These moves are usually criticised by Chongryon as acts of political supression. [8] .

Furthermore, the Japanese authorities have recently started to crack down on Chongryon activities, moves usually criticised by Chongryon as acts of political supression. [9]

In December 2001, police raided Chongryon's Tokyo headquarters and related facilities to investigate Chongryon officials' suspected role in embezzlement of funds from the failed tokyo Chogin credit union. [10]

In 2002, Shotaro Tochigi, deputy head of the Public Security Investigation Agency told a session of the House of Representatives Financial Affairs Committee that the agency is investigating Chongryon for suspected illicit transfers of funds to the North. [11] The image of Chongryon was further tarnished by North Korea's surprise 2002 admission that it had abducted Japanese nationals in the 1970's, as it had been categorically and fiercely denying for many years that the abductions had ever taken place and dismissing rumours of North Korean involvement as a racist fantasy. Some of the recent drop in membership of Chongryon is thought to be attributed to ordinary members of Chongryon who had believed the party line feeking deeply humiliated and disillusioned upon discovering that they had been used as mouthpieces to deny what was seen in Japan as serious wrongdoing by North Korea.

In March 2006, police raided six Chongryon-related facilities in an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the June 1980 disapperance of one of the alleged abductees, Tadaaki Hara. Police spokesman said that the head of Chongryon at the time is suspected of co-operating in his kidnap. [12]

The operation of the Mangyongbong-92 (temporarily suspended for six months as of July 2006), a North Korean ferry that is the only regular direct link between North Korea and Japan, is a subject of significant tension as the ferry is primarily used by Chongryon to send its members to North Korea and to supply North Korea with money and goods donated by the organization and its members. Although the humanitarian aspect of such contributions cannot be denied, particularly given that older Chongryon members have immediate family in North Korea, Chongryon members also continue to send lavish gifts, such as cash, expensive western liquor and Japanese beef, to Kim Jong Il and other high-ranking North Korean officials.[citation needed]. In 2003, a North Korean defector made a statement to the US Senate committe stating that more than 90% of the parts used by North Korea to construct its missiles were brought from Japan aboard the ship. [13]

In May 2006, Chongryon and the pro-South Mindan agreed to reconcile, only for the agreement to break down the following month due to Mindan's distrust of Chongryon. North Korea's missile tests in July 2006 have deepened the divide, with Chongryon refusing to condemn the missile tests, expressing only its regret that the Japanese government has suspended the operation of the Mangyongbong-92. Outraged senior Mindan officials joined mainstream Japanese politicians and media in sharply criticizing Chongryon's silence over the matter.

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ 平成１５年末現在における外国人登録者統計について (Japanese).
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ Lankov, Andrei. "Stateless in Sakhalin", The Korea Times, 2006-01-05. Retrieved on 2006-11-26.
  4. ^ United Nations International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination (September 26, 2000): "E. Korean residents in Japan 32. The majority of Korean residents, who constitute about one third of the foreign population in Japan, are Koreans (or their descendants) who came to reside in Japan for various reasons during the 36 years (1910-1945) of Japan's rule over Korea and who continued to reside in Japan after having lost Japanese nationality, which they held during the time of Japan's rule, with the enforcement of the San Francisco Peace Treaty (28 April 1952)."
  5. ^ Yonhap news, May 17, 2006.
  6. ^ 過去１０年間の帰化許可申請者数，帰化許可者数等の推移 (Japanese).
  7. ^ Ed-Info Japan News from September, to December, 2003
  8. ^ FM Spokesman Urges Japan to Stop Suppression of Chongryon.
  9. ^ FM Spokesman Urges Japan to Stop Suppression of Chongryon.
  10. ^ Gov't defends police raid on Chongryon head office (Japan Policy & Politics, Dec 3, 2001)
  11. ^ CORRECTED: Pro-Pyongyang group rules out link to abduction (Asian Political News, Nov 18, 2002)
  12. ^ Friday, April 07, 2006; Volume 02, Number 14 of the Japan Considered Podcast.
  13. ^ N Korea ferry struggling against the tide (BBC News Online, June 9, 2003)

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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