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Chōsen gakkō

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Chōsen gakkō (Japanese: 朝鮮学校, Korean: 조선학교; MR: Chosŏn hakkyo) are North Korean schools in Japan. "Chōsen" means Korean and "gakkō" means school.[1] They are affiliated with the Chongryon (the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan) which has strong ties to North Korea. Sometimes Chōsen gakkō schools are referred to as Chongryon schools.

Chōsen gakkō
Classroom at Tokyo Korean High School (東京朝鮮高級学校) with portraits of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il
North Korean name
Chosŏn'gŭl조선학교
Hancha朝鮮學校
Transcriptions
Revised RomanizationJoseon hakgyo
McCune–ReischauerChosŏn hakkyo
Japanese name
Kanji朝鮮学校
Hiraganaちょうせんがっこう

They teach loyalty to the North Korean regime and hostility to the Western Bloc.[2] Their students are born in Japan, but the lesson has a distinctive North Korean perspective. Japan has no control over the curriculum.[2]

As of 2012, there were 135 Chōsen schools in Japan: 38 kindergartens, 54 elementary schools, 33 middle schools and 10 high schools, along with Korea University (not to be confused with Korea University in Seoul).[3]

As of 2014, there were about 150,000 Zainichi Koreans affiliated with the Chongryon in Japan, and they form the clientele of the schools. As of 2013, these schools had almost 9,000 ethnic Korean students.[4]

The vast majority of Koreans in Japan do not attend Chōsen gakkō. For example, 87% of Koreans in Osaka attend wholly Japanese schools which make no provisions for bilingual education.[5]

They are distinct from Kankoku gakkō (한국학교, 韓國學校, 韓国学校, Hanguk hakgyo) which are overseas South Korean schools (재외한국학교, 在外韓國學校, 在外韓国学校, zaigai Kankoku gakkō/jaeoe Hanguk hakgyo) in Japan, which receive approval from the South Korean government and incorporate the South Korean educational curriculum and regular Japanese curriculum.[6]

History

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Background

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Tokyo Korean Junior and Senior High School (東京朝鮮中高級学校)
 
Tokyo Korean 1st Elementary and Junior High School (東京朝鮮第一初中級学校)

During the Japanese occupation of Korea between 1905 and 1945, many Koreans migrated to Japan, some by force and some voluntarily.[1] The Japanese colonial government attempted to crush Korean identity, restricting the teaching & use of the Korean language both within Korea & Japan.[7]

In the wake of the collapse of colonial rule in Korea in 1945, approximately two million Koreans had returned to their homeland, whilst approximately 600,000 remained in Japan.[1]

Under the US occupation of Japan, ethnic Koreans were able to set up their own schools in which Korean culture could be taught and celebrated.[8]

However, these schools soon faced restrictions.[9] The American Occupation administration instructed the Japanese Ministry of Education to close Korean ethnic schools. Protests broke out. Clashes between the Japanese government and the ethnic Korean population peaked with the Hanshin Education Incident on 24 April 1948, in which 1,732 people were arrested. The same day, Japanese police went to Chōsen schools, forced out the students and nailed the doors shut.[10]

In 1949, all Chōsen schools were closed.[11]

Revival & relationship with North Korea

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Set up in October 1945, the League of Koreans (also known as the Choryŏn) initially opened & operated the schools, until the organisation was disbanded due to its socialist ties in 1949.[12] Then, after the Korean War amistace was signed, the Choryŏn was restarted under the new name Chongryon and they were able to reopen the schools.

Although the schools were reopened, their situation was still precarious. The only way for Chōsen schools to be both accredited and free of Japanese interference is to gain 'miscellaneous school' status, which is granted by local authorities, not the central Ministry of Education.[1] After the Japanese government normalized relations with South Korea in 1965, it encouraged local authorities to deny miscellaneous status to North-affiliated Chōsen schools. Despite this, by 1975, all existing Chōsen schools had obtained miscellaneous school status.[11]

The Chongryon has been labelled as North Korea's de-facto embassy in Japan.[13][14][15][16] A lot of difficulties for Chōsen schools & Koreans in Japan arise from the Chongryon's links to Pyongyang.

In the immediate decades after the Korean War, North Korea far outstripped South Korea economically.[17] As a growing industrial economy, North Korea funnelled funds through the Chongryon to finance Chōsen schools, along with parents paying tuition fees.[18][1] In 2021, a press release from Pyongyang reported that, since the start of the Chōsen gakkō, North Korea had sent over ₩500 billion (US$437.08 million) of financial support.[19]

Rise in anti-Korean sentiment

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On 17 September 2002, the Japanese media reported that, back in the 1970s and 1980s, Japanese citizens had been abducted by the North Korean government.[20]

In addition to North Korea's nuclear tests, the abductions resulted in a rise of anti-Korean sentiment. There were reports of Chōsen gakkō students being spat on, receiving verbal abuse, and having their distinctive uniforms slashed.[21]

These attacks stoked fear amongst the Chongryon community. It became common practice to wear Western-style uniforms on the way to school and change into their Korean uniforms once they arrived. Each set of uniform cost ¥40,000 (US$364.46) so this protection measure represented a significant cost.[21]

Japan withdraws tuition fee funding

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In 2010, the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) implemented the “Tuition Waiver and Tuition Support Fund Program for High School Education (Tuition Waiver Program)”. This new scheme would lessen the financial burden on families by making high school free for public, private, international and foreign schools. However, the decision was made to exclude schools affiliated with the Chongryun.[1][22]

Tokyo Korean Junior and Senior High School charges ¥400,000 (US$3,644.65) per year to attend, which many Korean immigrants struggle to afford, so a tuition fee waver would make a big difference to poorer parents who have no choice but to send their children to Japanese schools.[23]

In the 2011 fiscal year, the Osaka Prefectural Government ended subsidies to an educational corporation which operates ten Chōsen gakkō.[24]

In February 2013, the Japanese central government, citing the development of the North Korean nuclear program and a lack of cooperation regarding the North Korean abductions of Japanese citizens,[24] officially declared that Chōsen gakkō may not be a part of the tuition waiver program.[25]

On May 17, 2013, the United Nations Economic and Social Council released a report citing "The Committee is concerned at the exclusion of Korean schools from the State party’s tuition-waiver programme for high school education, which constitutes discrimination".[26]

By 2020, the Chongryon community had organised over 200 protests against the government's decision.[27]

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Lawsuits have been launched throughout Japan against these unfair treatments against Chōsen gakkō students as discrimination based on ethnic origin and heritage.[28]

In July 2017, the Osaka District Court ruled that the exclusion of Osaka Korean High School from the high school tuition fee waiver program was unlawful.[29][30]

A few months later, the Tokyo District Court ruled against a Chōsen gakkō school, upholding the Japanese government's decision to withhold tuition subsidies.[31]

The Supreme Court's ruled in August 2019 that it was lawful to exclude Tokyo Korean Junior and Senior High School, the largest Chōsen school in the country, from the scheme.[22] The court cited the school's connections to Chongryon, amidst tensions with North Korea.[23]

Higashiosaka Chōsen Chukyu gakkō closed in March 2018 due to "financial difficulties", according to a school spokesperson.[32] In 2023, three more schools in the Osaka prefecture closed due to a lack of financial support from both Tokyo & Pyongyang.[33]

Hate speech

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In November 2019, former high ranking member of far-right group Zaitokukai was fined ¥500,000 (US$4,555.81) for calling Chōsen schools “spy training centers".[34]

COVID-19 pandemic

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At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the Japanese government was distributing face masks to kindergartens, they chose not to distribute them to Chōsen gakkō.[35][36] There was public outcry in South Korea, and the collective efforts of 1,500 civic groups resulted in donations of 1,500 masks and over ₩24 million (US$20,979.94).[37]

2023 investigations from Seoul authorities

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In December 2023, the South Korean Ministry of Unification began investigating actor Kwon Hae-hyo, producer Cho Eun-seong and film director Kim Jee-woon for unauthorized contact with North Koreans after making a documentary highlighting discrimination in Chōsen schools.[38]

Article 9 of the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Act states that South Korean citizens must notify the Ministry of Unification in advance if they intend to contact a citizen of North Korea, even if abroad. This legislation especially applies to those seeking to make contact with people linked to Chōsen schools that are affiliated with the Chongryon (the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan), which has ties to North Korea.[39] However, if the person being contacted is a citizen of South Korea, no advance notification is required.[40]

Cho Eun-seong stated, "in the past 10 years, I have made several documentaries related to Koreans in Japan and this is the first time something like this has happened."[41]

The news of Seoul's investigations sparked outrage in Japan, with many fearing they could be suspected as a spy for simply speaking to someone North Korean. A restaurant owner, who is an ethnic Korean and third-generation immigrant in Japan, stated, "It’s perfectly natural for Koreans who have been in Japan for several generations to be on familiar terms with [North Koreans]. It’s certainly nothing to report to the authorities."[42]

Schools

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[43]

Closed and/or merged schools

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[44]

See also

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to North Korean schools in Japan.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Saito, Yukie; Okamura, Ryoko (1 February 2022). "Endangering the Right to Ethnic Education: Japan's Exclusion of Chōsen Schools from the Tuition Waiver Program". The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus. Retrieved 2024-01-23.
  2. ^ a b "North Korean schools in Japan build loyalty, even love, abroad - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. 2018-11-18. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
  3. ^ Mitsuishi Park, Shitte imasuka, Chōsen Gakkō. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten. 2012
  4. ^ Talmadge, Eric. "Japan turns up pressure on pro-Pyongyang schools Archived 2015-04-12 at the Wayback Machine" (). Associated Press. August 24, 2013. Retrieved on April 12, 2015. Alternate link at() Yahoo! News. Alternate link at Fox News.
  5. ^ Maher, John C.; Macdonald, Gaynor (2012-11-12). Diversity in Japanese Culture and Language. Routledge. p. 168. ISBN 978-1-136-16016-5.
  6. ^ "学校法人金剛学園 | 韓国語と英語が学べるインタナショナル系私立学校 ABOUT「OKIS」". 学校法人金剛学園 | 韓国語と英語が学べるインタナショナル系私立学校 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2024-01-01.
  7. ^ Hopfner, Jonathan (2009). Moon Living Abroad in South Korea. Berkeley, CA: Moon Publications. p. 25. ISBN 978-1-59880-250-4. Archived from the original on 20 November 2020. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  8. ^ Sonia Ryang, North Koreans in Japan: Language, Ideology, and Identity (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1997), 79–80.
  9. ^ Hiroshi Tanaka, Zainichi Gaikokujin (Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1995), p. 46
  10. ^ Caprio, Mark E. (November 1, 2008). "The Cold War Explodes in Kobe—"The 1948 Korean Ethnic School "Riots" and US Occupation Authorities". The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus. Retrieved 2024-01-23.
  11. ^ a b Han, Tong-hyon. “‘Exclusion/Assimilation’ in the Treatment of the Korean School in Postwar Japan: An Essay on the Korean School as a Symbol for the Outcome of the ‘Exclusive Society.’” Kyōku Shakai Kenkyū 96 (2015): 109–29.
  12. ^ Bell, M. (2018). "Reimagining the homeland: Zainichi Koreans' transnational longing for North Korea" (PDF). The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology. ISSN 1444-2213.
  13. ^ Surdek, Samantha (2020-12-02). "Chongryon: North Korea's Outpost in Japan". The Cornell Diplomat (4). ISSN 2769-0288.
  14. ^ jamesfretwell (2020-11-25). "North Korea appointed next leader of its de facto embassy in Japan, sources say". NK News. Retrieved 2024-01-24.
  15. ^ "Pro-North Korean group waging last-ditch fight over de facto embassy in Japan". The Japan Times. 2014-03-25. Retrieved 2024-01-24.
  16. ^ "Suspicion over sale of de facto North Korean embassy in Tokyo". South China Morning Post. 2015-02-06. Retrieved 2024-01-24.
  17. ^ "An Unpromising Recovery: South Korea's Post-Korean War Economic Development: 1953-1961". Association for Asian Studies. Retrieved 2024-01-24.
  18. ^ Sonia Ryang, Koreans in Japan: Critical Voices from the Margin. London: Routledge. 2000
  19. ^ Wonju, Yi (2021-05-25). "N.K. touts national education of pro-Pyongyang group in Japan on 66th founding anniversary". Yonhap News Agency. Retrieved 2024-01-24.
  20. ^ Borowiec, Steven. "The Sad but True Story of North Korea's Abduction Project". Asia Society. Retrieved 2024-01-24.
  21. ^ a b Ryang, Sonia (2009). "Visible and Vulnerable: The Predicament of Koreans in Japan" (PDF). Diaspora Without Homeland: Being Korean in Japan: 62–75. doi:10.1525/california/9780520098633.003.0004. ISBN 978-0-520-09863-3.
  22. ^ a b Kwak, Yeon-soo (2023-03-17). "Film highlights discrimination against Chosun schools in Japan". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2024-01-23.
  23. ^ a b Borowiec, Steven. "The existential crisis facing North Korean schools in Japan". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2024-01-24.
  24. ^ a b Watanabe, Natsume. "Grade school for Zainichi Koreans in Osaka struggling to survive" (). The Japan Times. August 11, 2014. Retrieved on October 14, 2015.
  25. ^ "Don't exclude 'Chosen' schools". The Japan Times. 2010-03-14. Retrieved 2024-01-24.
  26. ^ "United Nations Economic and Social Council report E/C.12/JPN/CO/3". 2013-05-17.
  27. ^ Cho, Ki-weon (2020-02-24). "[Reportage] Chosen Gakko students have protested Japan's exclusionary education policies for 7 years". The Hankyoreh. Retrieved 2024-01-23.
  28. ^ Lawyers Association of Zainichi Koreans (2014-07-24). "Discrimination Against Koreans in Japan: Japan's Violation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-05-13. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
  29. ^ "Osaka court rules Korean school entitled to tuition subsidies withheld by government". The Japan Times. 2017-07-28. Retrieved 2024-01-23.
  30. ^ Jiji Press (July 28, 2017). "Pro-Pyongyang school petition backed". Archived from the original on July 28, 2017. The Osaka District Court ordered the government on Friday to reverse its decision to exclude a pro-Pyongyang Korean school from its tuition-free program for high schools. The government's decision to omit Osaka Korean School in Higashiosaka from its tuition waiver program is unlawful, presiding Judge Takahiro Nishida said in the ruling.
  31. ^ Cho, Ki-weon (14 September 2017). "Tokyo court rules against pro-North Korean high school". The Hankyoreh. Retrieved 2024-01-23.
  32. ^ "Major Korean junior high school, cut off from Japan's tuition aid, to close in March". The Japan Times. 2017-12-29. Retrieved 2024-01-24.
  33. ^ Lee, Michelle Ye Hee; Inuma, Julia Mio (2 December 2022). "North Korean schools in Japan? Geopolitics may shutter them". The Washington Post. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  34. ^ Kim, So-youn (2020-07-14). "The rise of anti-Korean sentiment and hate speech in Japan". The Hankyoreh. Retrieved 2024-01-23.
  35. ^ Kyung-sik, Lee (2020-03-13). "Local government in Japan excludes Chosen Gakko from public mask distribution Headlines, March 13, 2020". The Korea Post. Retrieved 2024-01-23.
  36. ^ Cho, Ki-weon (2020-03-12). "Local government in Japan excludes Chosen Gakko from public mask distribution". The Hankyoreh. Retrieved 2024-01-23.
  37. ^ Kang, Jae-gu; Kim, Min-je (2020-03-20). "Civic groups donate masks to Chosen Gakko in Japan in response to discriminatory policy". The Hankyoreh. Retrieved 2024-01-23.
  38. ^ 노, 재필 (2023-12-12). "정부, 조총련계 학교 '무단접촉' 영화인 조사‥권해효 씨 단체도". MBC 뉴스 (in Korean). Retrieved 2024-01-23.
  39. ^ Rosen, Armin (2012-07-26). "The Strange Rise and Fall of North Korea's Business Empire in Japan". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2024-01-23.
  40. ^ Moon, Jae-yeon (12 December 2023). "통일부, 조선학교 접촉한 시민단체 영화감독 무더기 제동... 교류행사도 위법?". Hankook Ilbo. Retrieved 2024-01-23.
  41. ^ 노, 재필 (2023-12-12). "정부, 조총련계 학교 '무단접촉' 영화인 조사‥권해효 씨 단체도". MBC 뉴스 (in Korean). Retrieved 2024-01-23.
  42. ^ Kim, So-youn (15 December 2023). "Koreans in Japan voice fears of witch hunt as Seoul investigates contact with Chongryon". Hankoryoreh. Retrieved 2024-01-23.
  43. ^ "ウリハッキョ一覧" (). Chongryon. Retrieved on October 14, 2015.
  44. ^ a b c d e f "ウリハッキョ一覧" (). Chongryon. November 6, 2005. Retrieved on October 15, 2015. Compare the school names in the 2005 page to the current one. Changes in the names indicates the removal of educational stages.
  45. ^ "The Education System and Schools Archived 2013-07-27 at the Wayback Machine" (). Government of Kanagawa Prefecture. Retrieved on October 13, 2015.

Further reading

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Videos

(in Japanese) Available online:

Not available online:

  • 松下 佳弘. "Administrative Measures and Counteractions over the "Total Closure" of Korean Schools between 1949 and 1951 : The Case Study of Aichi Dai-roku Choren Elementary School in Kozakai Town, Hoi Gun" (朝鮮人学校の「完全閉鎖」をめぐる攻防(一九四九~五一年) : 愛知第六朝連小学校(宝飯郡小坂井町)の事例から). 研究紀要 (20), 155-188, 2015-07. 世界人権問題研究センター. See profile at CiNii.
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