Currently the status of pro-North Korean schools in Japan is being debated. There are of course many “Koreans” living in Japan, although they were born and raised here and often don’t speak the Korean language at all, yet for cultural reasons they keep their own national identity and refuse to take Japanese citizenship. There are two political groups who represent the rights of these zainichi (“residing in Japan”) Koreans, the moderate Mindan for holders of South Korean passports and the pro-North Korean Chongryon. The latter organization operates 218 pro-Pyongyang schools in Japan which are used to maintain a North Korean cultural identity, including language and allegiance to the “Dear Leader.” The government is hammering out the details of a plan to make public high schools free (they’re not part of compulsory education and cost around $100 a month per student), and the question of whether or not to include the North Korean-affiliated schools in this program is being discussed. Back in my days as an English teacher, I visited the local North Korean high school once, teaching a sample English lesson to try to get some of the students to come study at our English school. It was definitely one of the stranger experiences I’ve had as a teacher… (Incidentally, I saw it reported that Japan doesn’t fund these pro-North Korean schools at all, yet our own prefecture of Gunma, at least, does contribute $2800 per student per month to these schools. Perhaps this has something to do with our special status as the Pachinko capital of Japan.)
An assembly at a North Korean high school…in Japan.
