Word: chongyron
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Dates: during 2007-2007
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...that harsh environment, the militant Chongyron organization founded in 1955 proved an effective answer to the need of the zainichi to band together to protect themselves and their identity. Kim offers an example from his own life: As a Korean college graduate in 1961, no Japanese company would hire him, so he went to work for Chongyron...
...Chongyron was dedicated to preserving Korean identity in Japan, running Korean-language schools and cultural organizations, and its strong sense of national pride prompted its support for Pyongyang; in the organization's heyday, South Korea was viewed among zainichi as little more than an American poodle. But as Pyongyang took a firmer hand in the running of Chongyron, it became less concerned with improving the lot of its members than with furthering North Korea's agenda, soliciting money from the zainichi to enrich Kim Jong Il, and before him, his father, Kim Il Sung...
...Worse, still, for the organization's reputation, Chongyron encouraged tens of thousands of zainichi families to repatriate to North Korea in the 1960s, where they faced unimaginable hardship and oppression. "Chongyron became a tool of Kim Il Sung," says Kim Kyoo Il, who left the organization in 1965. "All he did was use the zainichi as human resources for the North Korean regime." (Chongyron did not respond to requests for comment.) Things became worse for the organization in the 1990s when undeniable proof of human rights atrocities in the North began to reach Japan's zainichi. The knockout blow came...
...zainichi become more integrated into Japanese life, Chongyron faces extinction. A proud zainichi such as high-tech entrepreneur Masayoshi Son, one of the richest men in Japan, is emblematic of a new generation that no longer need the protection of an ethnic association, much less one tied to a dictator. The gradual rapprochement between North and South Korea has also rendered Chongyron superfluous. "When the South and the North come together over there, you don't have to pick one or the other over here," says...
...Still, fond feelings for North Korea haven't entirely disappeared among many zainichi, even if they've gotten somewhat complicated. The Chongyron associate says that when soccer's World Cup rolls around, he still cheers for North Korea. "But I realized when I watched a match that I know everyone on the Japan side, but no one for North Korea," he says. "Living in Japan but supporting North Korea is just very strange...