| Chosen Soren |
Article Index for Chosen |
Information AboutChosen Soren |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT CHONGRYON | |
| organizations based in japan | |
| organizations based in north korea | |
| de facto embassies | |
| japanese-korean relations | |
| anti-japanese sentiment in korea | |
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The main headquarters is in Tokyo, and there are also prefectural and regional head offices and branches. The organisation also operates eighteen mass propaganda bodies and twenty-three business enterprises. One of the most important is Pachinko . Chongryon affiliates and supporters are thought to control as much as one third of the Pachinko industry in Japan . An important function of these enterprises is earning hard currency to be remitted to Pyongyang. These remittances have been estimated at between $600 million and $1.9 billion each year, but are probably much lower. {Link without Title} As there is no diplomatic relations between Japan and North Korea, Chongryon has been the defacto North Korean embassy in Japan. It also operates Korean schools from kindergarten to university, Korean banks, and other facilities in Japan. Chongryon has also been accused of conducting espionage activities, drug smuggling, fund-raising for North Korea, and other illegal activities. As Korean issues are politically sensitive in Japan and Koreans have actively protected their interests in Japan, Chongryon and Korean expatriates there became able to enjoy so-called “extra-territoriality” in Japan, which some Japanese claim as unwritten reverse discrimination. However, as the problems of North Korea and Chongryon have been revealed one after another and their activities are often against Japan's interests, Japan's public opinion has become progressively more negative toward Chongryon (as Chongryon is strongly identified with North Korea in Japan). SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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