Exclusive interview for LANACION.com
"If Korea is reunified, many will return"
Viviana Malvina Sosa
Lee Chang Hung, Korean professor and educational director of the "Korean School of Tokyo", an institution that represents a North Korean bastion in the heart of the capital, discusses the existence of political tension in North Korea caused by nuclear testing.
Lee Chang Hung comes from a Korean family that was forced to settle in Japan during World War Two. After the war, it was practically impossible to return to their native land due to economic reasons and other conflicts that were causing territorial division. Therefore they decided to remain in Japan and work for the Korean community, which supports their education. Though Lee Chang Hung has resided in Japan for many years, he states, "If Korea is reunified, him along with many others would return".
When questioned about the Korean decision to develop nuclear weapons, the professor responded, “Large countries such as China, Russia, Japan and the United States are a permanent threat to North Korea because they crave its natural resources and they desire to strategically manage the peninsula.”
"In our schools we teach that we have to protect ourselves from the United States because Korea is a very small and divided country -explains Hung-. We know that nuclear weapons are harmful because they destroy the lives and hearts of the people, but the United States is a great threat to our survival. We cannot remain unprotected".
He added that the regional tension is aggravated due to the lack of Korean historical knowledge in Japan, where the Japanese themselves are not aware of the atrocities that were committed in Korea during World War II, and because they have never asked for pardon. From North Korea’s viewpoint "the war is in a state of interval cessation because the United States always threatens from the southern border and from its military bases in Japan". According to Hung, this dispute is both political and cultural since the Japanese National Diet tried on seven occasions to close Korean schools. "We pay high taxes and they continue to discriminate us", he complains.
Areas of failing governance:.
Though the educational director maintained a comprehensive stance toward the governance of Kim Jong-il, he also showed a critical attitude toward the question of the Japanese who were kidnapped by North Koreans a few decades ago. This matter regained importance in the last few weeks when the relatives of those who were kidnapped were reunited in the UN to bring forward their accusations toward Pyongyang.
In Accordance with North Korea’s official position, in September of 2002, after Kim Jong-il recognized his participation in the matter, he asked for pardon, freed the seven kidnapped and offered compensations to the families. "The Japanese blame the common citizens of North Korea for things that the government does, branding us dangerous and bad people".
As of July, there have been 127 attacks against Koreans in Japan as retaliation for the nuclear trials. For example, a gang of young people entered one of the schools and destroyed typical garments, in addition to making numerous telephone threats.
The educational director also admitted that another great failure of the governance of Pyongyang is poverty and misery. He commented that his family living in North Korea needs money, medicines and food. "Until some time ago, we were able to send electronics such as radios and computers, but now all this is prohibited, even sending from China".
The last failure addressed by Lee Chang Hung is the lack of connection with the foreign mass media, a situation that allows public opinion to be easily controlled. "Although due to the current increase of foreign tourists, people are becoming aware of the poverty that surrounds them".
It is important to emphasize that not all North Koreans suffer this misery, some live in Japan and they handle a third of one of the strongest diversion industries: betting and the production of "Pachinko Slot" machines. Their incomes are extremely high and because they are suspected to send remittances to North Korea, the police constantly pursues them. Recently, the Japanese press brought to light that between 600 and 2,000 million dollars a year are sent, though that figure decays progressively.
His family in North Korea needs money, medicines and food. "Until some time ago, we were able to send electronics such as radios and computers, but now all this prohibited"
The unit of the Korean community in Japan.
Since 1946, 600 North Korean schools have been installed throughout Japan, with nearly 111 million dollars per year being invested to maintain their system and educational level, which includes the publication of their own books in all the disciplines and periodic trips to the peninsula.
"The effort of the North Korean government and of its people, who always financially supported this undertaking, is what managed to convert the school of Tokyo into one of the five best in the city", Lee Chang Hung said proudly.
Chosen Soren, The General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, administers the schools. It functions like the embassy of North Korea in Japan, because diplomatic relations are not maintained no official delegation exists. Chosen Soren responds to Kim Jong-il, who makes us "feel Korean, not like Japan that always discriminates us", commented the director.
In spite of it, the tension generated has arrived at such a point that many Koreans change their nationality and hide their background in order to be accepted in the society. For Lee Chang Hung, the ones that resort to this method "do not have dignity and they are very miserable. These deserters believe that Kim Jong-il is not a good leader just because of the present economic situation, apparently they are very affected by what the mass media says (out of Korea)".
"If Korea is reunified, many will return"
Viviana Malvina Sosa
Lee Chang Hung, Korean professor and educational director of the "Korean School of Tokyo", an institution that represents a North Korean bastion in the heart of the capital, discusses the existence of political tension in North Korea caused by nuclear testing.
Lee Chang Hung comes from a Korean family that was forced to settle in Japan during World War Two. After the war, it was practically impossible to return to their native land due to economic reasons and other conflicts that were causing territorial division. Therefore they decided to remain in Japan and work for the Korean community, which supports their education. Though Lee Chang Hung has resided in Japan for many years, he states, "If Korea is reunified, him along with many others would return".
When questioned about the Korean decision to develop nuclear weapons, the professor responded, “Large countries such as China, Russia, Japan and the United States are a permanent threat to North Korea because they crave its natural resources and they desire to strategically manage the peninsula.”
"In our schools we teach that we have to protect ourselves from the United States because Korea is a very small and divided country -explains Hung-. We know that nuclear weapons are harmful because they destroy the lives and hearts of the people, but the United States is a great threat to our survival. We cannot remain unprotected".
He added that the regional tension is aggravated due to the lack of Korean historical knowledge in Japan, where the Japanese themselves are not aware of the atrocities that were committed in Korea during World War II, and because they have never asked for pardon. From North Korea’s viewpoint "the war is in a state of interval cessation because the United States always threatens from the southern border and from its military bases in Japan". According to Hung, this dispute is both political and cultural since the Japanese National Diet tried on seven occasions to close Korean schools. "We pay high taxes and they continue to discriminate us", he complains.
Areas of failing governance:.
Though the educational director maintained a comprehensive stance toward the governance of Kim Jong-il, he also showed a critical attitude toward the question of the Japanese who were kidnapped by North Koreans a few decades ago. This matter regained importance in the last few weeks when the relatives of those who were kidnapped were reunited in the UN to bring forward their accusations toward Pyongyang.
In Accordance with North Korea’s official position, in September of 2002, after Kim Jong-il recognized his participation in the matter, he asked for pardon, freed the seven kidnapped and offered compensations to the families. "The Japanese blame the common citizens of North Korea for things that the government does, branding us dangerous and bad people".
As of July, there have been 127 attacks against Koreans in Japan as retaliation for the nuclear trials. For example, a gang of young people entered one of the schools and destroyed typical garments, in addition to making numerous telephone threats.
The educational director also admitted that another great failure of the governance of Pyongyang is poverty and misery. He commented that his family living in North Korea needs money, medicines and food. "Until some time ago, we were able to send electronics such as radios and computers, but now all this is prohibited, even sending from China".
The last failure addressed by Lee Chang Hung is the lack of connection with the foreign mass media, a situation that allows public opinion to be easily controlled. "Although due to the current increase of foreign tourists, people are becoming aware of the poverty that surrounds them".
It is important to emphasize that not all North Koreans suffer this misery, some live in Japan and they handle a third of one of the strongest diversion industries: betting and the production of "Pachinko Slot" machines. Their incomes are extremely high and because they are suspected to send remittances to North Korea, the police constantly pursues them. Recently, the Japanese press brought to light that between 600 and 2,000 million dollars a year are sent, though that figure decays progressively.
His family in North Korea needs money, medicines and food. "Until some time ago, we were able to send electronics such as radios and computers, but now all this prohibited"
The unit of the Korean community in Japan.
Since 1946, 600 North Korean schools have been installed throughout Japan, with nearly 111 million dollars per year being invested to maintain their system and educational level, which includes the publication of their own books in all the disciplines and periodic trips to the peninsula.
"The effort of the North Korean government and of its people, who always financially supported this undertaking, is what managed to convert the school of Tokyo into one of the five best in the city", Lee Chang Hung said proudly.
Chosen Soren, The General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, administers the schools. It functions like the embassy of North Korea in Japan, because diplomatic relations are not maintained no official delegation exists. Chosen Soren responds to Kim Jong-il, who makes us "feel Korean, not like Japan that always discriminates us", commented the director.
In spite of it, the tension generated has arrived at such a point that many Koreans change their nationality and hide their background in order to be accepted in the society. For Lee Chang Hung, the ones that resort to this method "do not have dignity and they are very miserable. These deserters believe that Kim Jong-il is not a good leader just because of the present economic situation, apparently they are very affected by what the mass media says (out of Korea)".
Viviana Malvina Sosa
Publicado en La Nacion. Noviembre de 2006
Publicado en La Nacion. Noviembre de 2006
