In a time of highly tense relations with its powerhouse neighbors, Japanese relations with its notoriously malevolent neighbor, North Korea, may be on the upswing. That said, the relations between Japan and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) have not always been so antagonistic. Since World War II, in fact, the North Korean lobby has been a potent force in local politics, garnering widespread support for the totalitarian regime and providing substantial monetary support.
Chongryon, the “General Association of the Korean Residents in Japan,” has been the de facto representative of the North Korean government in Japan since the post-war reconstruction period. Its members are mostly colonial-era descendants, refugees from the Korean War and survivors of infamous Jeju Island Uprsing — a devastating attack on locals, some of whom were supporters of North Korea, by the then-autocratic South Korean government. Many Korean expatriates chose in the early post-war period to side with North Korea and join Chongryon, while the South Korean political group in Japan, Mindan, was shunned. It has been reported that as much as 500,000 of the 600,000 Korean expatriates in Japan in 1955 were members of Chongryon. Additionally, due to ties to North Korea and rampant xenophobia in Japan, Chongryon has refused to integrate Koreans into the quite xenophobic Japanese society, creating a parallel school system that teaches allegiance to the Kim regime.
A heavy exporter in the early reconstruction period, North Korea could be considered a substantial part of Japan’s economic boom, as Japan held the South Korean military dictatorship at a distance, and left-leaning politicians were close to Chongryon and North Korean ideology. It is quite important to remember that, at the time, North Korea was highly successful economically and South Korea was a military dictatorship. As it is now a parliamentary, pro-American democracy, South Korea appears as if it is a Japanese ally, not to mention the fact that it is a global powerhouse and one of Japan’s main trading partners. Chongryon, however, became emulated by the left and far left in Japanese politics. At one point, a far-left terrorist organization, the Japanese Red Army, with the suspected help of Chongryon and the North Korean government, hijacked a plane and took refuge in North Korea.
In recent years, however, support for the DPRK has greatly waned in Japan. In 1994, Koreans in Japan supported Mindan and South Korea over Chongryon and North Korea by 54 percent to 36 percent, respectively. Only eight percent of the total, however, were active members of Chongryon, as DailyNK reported. The Atlantic reports that a series of anti-corruption cases in the 1990s and 2000s in Japanese politics led to an almost complete collapse of DPRK influence on Japanese political affairs through sympathetic politicians. Since then, a series of financial mishaps have crippled what was left of Chongryon, as most schools have closed, and bankruptcy and foreclosure emptied most affiliated buildings across Japan. This is due in part to the collapse of the North Korean economy during the great famine of the 1990s, as well as a series of recessions in Japan that led to a weaker flow of remittances to North Korea. Even further, the North Korean regime’s aggression in the past decades has spoiled any remnants of support from within Japan. However, things may be looking up for North Korea.
Many Japanese have been kidnapped by North Korea: The official tally is 17, but the numbers could be as high as 880. This has been a powerful mobilizing force in elections, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pledged to get the prisoners back, negotiating with DPRK. Overtures by the Japanese government could include a summit of heads of state and a resuming of remittances and trade. Possibly on the table is also, as The Economist reports, the stalling of the sale of Chongryon-affiliated buildings and programs and immunity for North Korea and Chongryon-affiliated programs and businesses. It is increasingly important for Japan to open up new realms of diplomacy with North Korea, as well as with other states, as no love is lost between Japan and its other neighbors.
Whether it is debates over World War II-era sex slaves or territorial disputes in the Senkaku/Diaoyu with China and the Dokdo/Takeshima with South Korea, Japan is becoming increasingly isolated within its direct sphere of influence (its influence within South-East Asia is a different matter, however.) Increasing protests at all levels of government and society proliferate in both China and South Korea against these Japanese claims. Despite their mutual statuses as essential allies and strategic partners to the United States, South Korea and Japan are also at odds over the “comfort women,” or South Korean women who were used as sex slaves in World War II by the Japanese Army. With all of this external pressure on Japan, the ability to find allies and decrease tensions elsewhere is highly important. Indeed, there have been recent Japanese overtures to South-East Asia, India and Australia, and importantly, to North Korea.
It may be farfetched to say that Japan would sacrifice its extensive links to both South Korea and America for an alliance with North Korea, but it is important to recognize that Japan’s growing isolation breeds demands for additional diplomatic channels. By gaining a stronger foothold in peninsular politics, new trade routes, a possible diplomatic coup in getting abductees home and an opened dialogue with the unpredictable Hermit Kingdom, Japan could begin to shift its strategic geopolitical alliances. While balancing a need to placate the United States diplomatically, Japan could either create opportunities for negotiations on a wide array of topics, or it could break with its decades old alliances and reestablish the strong fifth column of North Korean sympathizers. The United States has been quite worried about Japan easing sanctions, but Japan has thus far insisted that any sanctions eased would be sanctions only connected to the abductees. However, it would be naïve to assume that Japan would give up such a great chance at saving its citizens and reestablishing its place as a regional power. Given their historical ties and the current shift in Japanese geopolitics, Chongryon may be closer to resurgence than the West would anticipate.