N. Korea orders pro-NK Group in Japan to cut ties with S. Korea

It was confirmed on Tuesday that the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (GAKRJ), a pro-North Korean organization, received instructions from the North Korean regime to cease all activities related to unification with South Korea and to completely sever ties with South Korean officials. GAKRJ reportedly issued these directives, known as the "13-item instruction list," to its affiliated organizations, including Korean schools, which it operates as educational institutions for its community.

This move is widely seen as another sign of North Korea's escalating hostility toward the South, which has reached new heights since the North’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un redefined inter-Korean relations as those between two hostile states, or warring nations in late 2023. Some members of the Korean resident community in Japan are reportedly resisting this sudden and comprehensive ban on unification activities.

The GAKRJ, through its 13-item instruction, ordered all institutions and groups under its control to halt any and all activities, whether direct or indirect, related to peaceful unification or relations between the peoples of the two Koreas. The directive also mandated the complete severance of ties with any individuals or groups supporting South Korean democratic figures, promoting ethnic Korean education, or attempting to support Korean schools in Japan.

Additionally, pro-North Korean schools in Japan were instructed to stop teaching certain sections - namely the third part of the second-year curriculum - of the "Modern Korean History" curriculum, which includes content—albeit skewed—about unification-related activities in the two Koreas after the Korean War.


도쿄=이상훈 특파원 sanghun@donga.com