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