By Regis Arnaud
Posted 4 hours ago, updated 3 hours ago
Eiko Kawasaki entered North Korea when he was 17 before fleeing 41 years in 2001. At 80, she is now struggling to help her fellow unfortunates who remained there MARTIN BUREAU / AFP
INVESTIGATION – Between 1959 and 1984, the hermit regime, with the consent of Tokyo, organized the expulsion of 93,340 residents of Japan, most of whom were of Korean origin. About 200 were able to start the return journey. A handful of “righteous” fight to have their story known. And bring back those who can.
Tokyo
Between 1959 and 1984, the North Korean and Japanese governments, the first actively, the second tacitly, agreed to migrate as many residents of Korean descent from Japan to North Korea as possible. Co-financed by the two countries, this program plunged 93,340 people (including 6,730 Japanese) from Japan’s economic-democratic miracle into North Korea’s Stalinist hell in 25 years. “A true state, mass kidnapping. North Korea deceived these people, but Japan did nothing to correct them, knowing that North Korea was far from the promised paradise. My country also has a responsibility. He has to understand that in order to bring back those who can still be,” denounces Fumiaki Yamada. This “righteous man,” a university professor in Osaka, dedicated his career, sometimes at the risk of his life, to helping these “returnees” escape North Korea through an association founded in 1994. With others, he just made a small profit …
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