In January, the Tokyo District Court find that a crime had been committed and ordered the North Korean government to pay compensation for the repatriation project that sent ethnic Koreans in Japan to North Korea between the 1960s and 1980s.
The case was brought by four plaintiffs who moved to North Korea but later returned to Japan. They expressed hope that “this decision would help dispel the notion that the escapees’ suffering was simply their own responsibility in Japanese society.” At the same time, they expressed concern for family members and acquaintances still in North Korea and renewed hope for improved relations between Japan and North Korea.
Under the repatriation project carried out from 1959 to 1984, approximately 93,000 ethnic Koreans residing in Japan and their families moved to North Korea to settle there. They did so by believing Pyongyang’s claims that the country was a “heaven on earth” with sufficient housing, food and clothing. In reality, life in North Korea was hard and a return to Japan was almost impossible.
According to statistics from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), the vast majority (about 80%) of the total number of people who went to North Korea did so during the first three years of the project, from its inception until 1961. After that, this number dropped sharply, and the program ended in 1984.
On January 26, the Tokyo District Court, in a retrial, ruled that the repatriation program constituted “a continuing tortious act in which the [North Korean] The government encouraged the movement based on false information, then deprived people of their freedom to leave after their arrival, forced them to stay, and subjected them to harsh living conditions. The court ordered the North Korean government to pay a total of 88 million yen (about $553,000) in compensation to the four plaintiffs.
The plaintiffs filed the lawsuit in 2018. Although they lost the case in the first trial in 2022, they managed to have the case sent back to the district court for appeal in 2023. This is the first time that the North Korean repatriation program has been considered an illegal act within the Japanese justice system.
“I am grateful that the Japanese court recognized the wrongdoing of the North Korean government,” said Yoko Sakakibara, 76, one of the plaintiffs. She expressed hope that after the ruling, Japanese society’s traditional view that “those who suffered in North Korea because of the repatriation project have only themselves to blame” will change, even if slightly.
In the North Korean apartment building where she lived at the time, the tap water only reached the third floor. None of the upper floors had running water. “It was an environment where, even if we had complaints about daily life, we couldn’t say anything to the government,” she recalls.
Professor Yoshiaki Kikuchi of Kanazawa Seiryo University, an expert on the Korean Peninsula, commented: “This decision is of great significance in Japanese judicial history. Not only is it the first decision ordering compensation to the North Korean government, but it is also the first time that a Japanese court has recognized a long-standing international project as an illegal act.”
He added: “This serves as a catalyst for a fundamental reassessment of the traditional view of Japanese society that, since those who participated in the repatriation project crossed the border of their own free will, they had no choice but to endure a difficult life. »
According to Kikuchi, in the 1950s in Japan, people on the Korean Peninsula and their families suffered severe discrimination and economic hardship. At the time, the positive image of socialism also encouraged people to settle in North Korea. He pointed out that North Korea faced intense competition with South Korea during the Cold War. Pyongyang felt the need to promote the superiority of socialism, which also played a role in the repatriation trend.
Since there were no diplomatic relations between Japan and North Korea at the time, the repatriation program was carried out under an agreement between the Japan Red Cross Society (JRCS) and the North Korean Red Cross. The General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon), which operated under the secret leadership of the Kim Il Sung regime at the time, launched a large-scale campaign in Japan to promote repatriation, and the Japanese government tacitly approved these efforts.
While some have called for JRCS to be held accountable, the organization has defended itself. “At the time, there were no diplomatic relations between Japan and North Korea, and the freedom to choose one’s place of residence is an internationally recognized human right,” the JRCS said in an emailed statement. “We carried out the project by confirming the free will of those who wished to return.”
Despite this decision, it will be difficult in practice for the plaintiffs to obtain compensation from North Korea. It is unclear whether any North Korean assets in Japan could be seized.
Fumio Yamada is president of the Association for the Protection of Life and Human Rights of North Korean Returnees (an NGO that supports escapees who have fled North Korea). He stressed: “Without any prospect of receiving compensation or any economic benefit, it is unlikely that anyone will pursue similar legal action in the future. »
Sakakibara highlighted another problem: “Among the younger generation, including my own children who defected, many do not want their origins to be known to society. »
Some of the plaintiffs, while happy to have left the hardships of North Korean life behind, feel a desire to reunite with friends and family in North Korea.
“Since I returned to Japan at the age of 60, most of my friends have been in North Korea and I miss them very much,” Sakakibara said. She expressed hope that relations between Japan and North Korea will improve, allowing people to travel freely between the two countries.
Kim, 67, who moved to North Korea with his family of four in 1973 at the age of 15 and returned to Japan in 2008 at the age of 50, argued that the repatriation plan and the kidnapping issue are linked.
Among those who left for North Korea as part of the repatriation project, there were cases where relatives remained in Japan. According to Kim, these relatives were sometimes used as leverage to force them to cooperate with North Korea’s kidnapping activities in Japan.
Kim appealed: “It is true that there are difficult issues in Japan-North Korea relations, such as the missile threat, but I would like the Japanese government to act with the main goal of saving those who have gone to North Korea and cannot return.” »