LARGE-SCALE CHOSEN SOREN PROTESTS IN JAPAN: A DPRK

C O N F I D E N T I A L TOKYO 001004 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/08/2016 TAGS: PREL PGOV KN JA SUBJECT: LARGE-SCALE CHOSEN SOREN PROTESTS IN JAPAN: A DPRK SIGNAL REF: A. NAGOYA 00013 ¶B. OSAKA KOBE 00056 Classified By: Ambassador J. Thomas Schieffer. Reasons 1.4 (B) (D) ¶1. (C) Summary. The DPRK-affiliated General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chosen Soren) organized large demonstrations March 3 in Tokyo, Nagoya, and Kobe to protest "unjustifiable (Japanese) political suppression." The protests, orchestrated by Pyongyang as all Chosen Soren activities are, were a signal to Tokyo prior to the Japan-DPRK Working Group which met March 7 in Hanoi. The demonstrations likely indicate that sanctions against Pyongyang, which also affect North Korean residents of Japan, are having an impact. At the end of the talks in Hanoi on March 8, the North Korean representative to the Japan-DPRK Working Group meeting, Song Il Ho, echoed the protestor's complaints and said that Pyongyang wants Japan to stop its crackdown on Chosen Soren. End Summary. ¶2. (U) Chosen Soren protest demonstrations, conducted simultaneously on March 3, drew crowds of between 300 in Nagoya (ref A),3,300 in Osaka (ref B),and between 3,000-7,000 in Tokyo's Hibiya Park, where Chosen Soren (CS) Vice Chairman Nam Sung Un denounced an investigation by Japanese police into the association's activities as "unjustifiable political suppression." Protesters called for resumption of Japan visits by the DPRK passenger-ferry Mangyongbong 92, which reportedly had facilitated the transfer of hard currency to the DPRK, in addition to carrying passengers and cargo. The Hibiya Park gathering went forward only after a Tokyo district court overturned attempts by the Tokyo Metropolitan government to revoke Chosen Soren's permit to gather. ¶3. (C) ROK Embassy First Secretary Kang Young-hoon observed that the protests reflect growing frustration among ethnic Koreans who are sympathetic to the DPRK with measures taken by Tokyo authorities to "put pressure on North Korea." Kang reported that, in addition to sanctions enacted after the DPRK's 2006 missile and nuclear tests, Japanese police launched an investigation into a scientific association close to CS whose members may, police believe, have transferred missile technology to the North. Japanese officials have also taken a closer look at pachinko parlors and restaurants owned by North Korea sympathizers for evidence of tax evasion, Kang reported. ¶4. (C) MOFA NE Asia Deputy Director Kosei Murota told Embassy Tokyo, while the demonstrators may have received directions from Pyongyang, the protests would have "very little influence" on the Japan-DPRK Working Group meeting which took place March 6-7, or the plenary Six-Party discussions set to take place March 19. MOFA emphasized that North Korean claims of discrimination were groundless. At the end of the Working Group talks in Hanoi on March 8, the North Korean representative to the Japan-DPRK Working Group meeting, Song Il Ho, echoing the Chosen Soren complaints, said that the North wants Japan to stop its crackdown on Chosen Soren. ¶5. (C) COMMENT. Chosen Soren is dominated by Pyongyang. The simultaneous large-scale demonstrations were likely to have been approved and planned by the DPRK to send a signal to Tokyo on the eve of the Japan-DPRK Working Group meeting in Hanoi. The protests may also signal an aggressive DPRK strategy to hit back at Abe, to try to put pressure on the sanctions regime, and head off any additional sanctions on Japan-resident North Koreans. Strong economic and other measures taken by the Japanese government against Chosen Soren and North Korean residents in the wake of the DPRK's missile and nuclear tests have resulted in an angry backlash from North Koreans as they feel the bite of sanctions. SCHIEFFER