Chollima Movement

Chongryun

Chongryun Eyes for Citizen-Centered Body  – Paradigm Shift Urged – 

( The People's Korea, September 1999)

Photo shows a general meeting in Tokyo held by Chongryun on September 21.

"As a result of putting emphasis only on politico-ideology rather than on daily life of resident Koreans here, our activity is losing support from within," said Mr. So Man Sul, the First Vice Chairman of Chongryun (General Association of Korean Residents in Japan) at a high-level general meeting held in the Tokyo Culture Hall on September 21.

"We should put our G3 (generation three) compatriots first place in all fields and let their progressiveness and creativity rev up our patriotic movement," Mr. So added, "Chongryun unintentionally gave a 'cut-and-dried officialdom image' to our compatriots, thus failing to reach ordinary Korean compatriots as a whole."  

Mr. So's remark, made at an extraordinary  "Enlarged Session" of the Third Plenary Meeting of the 18th Central Committee of Chongryun, was a rude wake-up call to many Chongryun executives who have been on the sideline seeing young G3-G4 Koreans from walking away from the body.

An unofficial survey shows that out of 660,000 Koreans in Japan, probably less than 160,000 Koreans retain their "north Korea" nationality, the country the pro-Pyongyang body supports.

"If Chongryun fails to make a bold switchover in our activity and rebuild itself into a 'citizen-oriented' one, we will see more and more Koreans filtering away from our organ," Mr. So said.

The surprising paradigm shift is seen as Chongryun's serious attempt to rejuvenate the organization and asserts its raison d'etre -- badly shaken by a flood of Koreans seeking to naturalize in Japan at a dangerously high rate. Unconfirmed data indicate that as many as 10,000 Koreans are discarding their Korean nationality (both north and south) and becoming Japanese every year. Some Koreans say that this is because of financial burden they have to shoulder due to the Japanese government's discrimination policy while others like to blame the policy of their own. Hoping to kick-start anew as a "citizen-oriented" organ, Chongryun announced its five key-policy to attract and reach more Korean compatriots, which follows as: 

1) To improve an external image of Chongryun;

2) To fight for the life and rights of Korean compatriots;

3) For a new development of ethnic education;

4) To improve cultural work, and expand an info-network among Korean compatriots:

5) To promote friendship and cooperation with Japanese neighbors.

Summering up the above-mentioned five-policy, Mr. So said, "Chongryun will creatively organize and undertake all its activities centering on the work to protect the vital rights and national identity of the compatriots from its center to its branches, organizations and enterprises. We will further improve our national education in keeping with Korean residents' work conditions and actual situation in Japan."

Among its measures under consideration are: the setting up a "General Counseling Center for Korean Compatriots" in each branch which will undertake all sorts of living-related issues such as financial service, welfare, education, marriage and basic human rights.

It is also planning to newly establish a "Placement Information Center for Korean Compatriots" which will serve as a bridge spanning between Korean management and employees.

The policy also urges members of its business affiliate "Korean Federation of Workers in Commerce in Japan" to become compatriot-friendly business savvy who can help their Korean customers ride out the worst economic crisis in this century.

Referring to the task of developing ethnic education work, the policy puts emphasis on language proficiency in its curriculum so that Korean students can manipulate Korean, Japanese, and English as polyglots in this globalized society.

 The work of introducing to Korean schools nationwide cutting-edge edutainment hardware and software is also underway to help students cope with warp-speed evolving IT society after graduation.

In order to guarantee job placement for Korean graduate students, Chongryun will help them work at Japanese and foreign firms if they are skilled enough to do so.

In order to strengthen and expand info-network among Korean compatriots, Chongryun will actively adopt Internet technology to keep them informed on all kinds of news that meets their demands and is directly related to their lives.

 At the same time, Chongryun will refrain from holding centripetal, politically charged activities and hold a variety of local-centered, and social stratum-wise meetings instead.

To develop an amicable mutual friendship and exchange with Japanese neighbors, Chongryun will not only hold wide-ranging contacts with them but also vigorously participate in various forms of regional activities such as welfare and environment protection work.

Chongryun Holds 19th Congress; Sets Forth New Tasks Towards New Century 

(The People's Korea, May 2001)

The triennial 19th Congress of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryun) was held on May 25 and 26 in central Tokyo to review its activity over the past three years and set forth the tasks to be carried out in the coming three years. It was participated in by deputies representing Chongryun and its affiliated organizations of all walks of life, central and local, some 2,000 all told.

Invited to the event were eight Japanese guest speakers from the coalition ruling parties including the Liberal Democratic Party and the Clean Government Party, heads and a representative of opposition parties such as the Social Democratic Party, the Communist Party and the Democratic Party and representatives of legislators and civic groups for friendship and solidarity with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The Japan-born Korean WBC’s super flyweight pro-boxing champion Hong Chang Su was also invited as a special guest, who defended his title by defeating South Korea’s former champ Cho In Ju in a title match held on May 20 in Seoul. 

Items placed on the agenda were: 1) Report on the work of the Central Committee; 2) Report of the Central Control Committee; 3) An amendment to the rules of Chongryun; 4) Settlement of accounts and a budget bill; 5) Election of the Central Committee and the Central Control Committee.

The two-day sessions heard a keynote report delivered by First vice-chairman So Man Sul and reports by 15 deputies on the experience achieved in the various fields such as 1) activities for defending national character among the Korean community in Japan; 2) work with the new generation of Koreans; 3) activities for compatriots’ lives and rights; 4) movement for national reunification; 5) contribution to the socialist construction in the DPRK; 6) external activities. Also shown by a jumbo TV screen were video-taped messages by local Chongryun activists and figures from different walks of life in Japan as well as in the DPRK. Congratulatory messages were sent to the Congress form DPRK government and social organizations including the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly. 

Keynote Report

(The People's Korea, May 2001)

First vice chairman So Man Sul delivered a report to the Congress on the work of the Central Committee of Chongryun under the title “On Further Developing the Movement of Koreans in Japan in Conformity with the Requirements of a New Era and the Aspirations of Japan-resident Korean Compatriots.” In the first part of his report, So Man Sul reviewed a nearly half century of Chongryun’s activities. Saying that Chongryun has achieved brilliant successes unparalleled in this kind of overseas compatriots’ patriotic movements in the world, he stressed that these achievements and traditions should be inherited and carried forward in a successful manner by the rising generation in their activities in the new century.

Thanks to the programmatic policy clarified by leader Kim Jong Il, he stated, an exemplary experience has been gained in the period under review, in particular, to radically transform Chongryun’s work-style and methods so that Chongryun might be an organization that truly served the Korean community in Japan. In the 21st century, he emphasized, Chongryun should strictly adhere to the principle of Juche and national character in all fields of its activity and the new generation should play a leading role in the movement in various forms.

The report pointed to an image of the Korean community in Japan to be created in the new century — “a harmonious community which is united through ethnicity and compatriotism; a rich community which is economically stable and full of ethnic culture and emotion; and a powerful community which has taken a proud position in the international society and can contribute to the fatherland and the nation.”

In the second part, the reporter, pointing to the reality that with the alternation of generations the spirit of national independence has been gradually slackened, stressed that priority must be given to the defense of national character in the Korean community. To this end, national education should be improved in terms of quality and effectiveness and computers and the Internet be actively introduced in the national schools so that the students may acquire enough know-how on Information Technology, he said. At the same time, he suggested that a variety of campaigns and movements be vigorously staged among the younger generation to enable them to learn their mother tongue, history and culture and thereby regain and maintain their ethnic identities.

The third part referred to the principle that the patriotic movement in the 21st century should be developed with the new generation as its driving force, as well as to the necessity for the movement to give birth to many talented people who may work on an international arena.

The fourth part put special emphasis on the safeguarding of our compatriotsﾕ lives and human rights. Before all else, the functions and roles of organizations for those Koreans in the sectors of commerce and industry — now a majority of Koreans in Japan — should be fully strengthened so that they may be able to find a way out of difficulties. They should be provided with counseling and relevant useful information by specialists and experts, the report said and continued:

One of the most immediate and pressing tasks is the rebuilding of some Korean credit associations, which went bankrupt owing to the long-drawn economic recession in Japan. At the same time, the service organizations such as the Consultant Center for Compatriots’ Lives, the Korean Association for Human Rights, the Korean Consultant Center for Marriage Arrangements, the Employment Information Center for Korean Compatriots, and the Consultative Conference for Compatriots’ Welfare — a newly built network for handicapped Koreans — should be further activated for the benefit of the Korean community. And an on-line computer network should be further strengthened.

Next, the report stressed the “Branch-first principle” in Chongryun’s activity so that its local organizations may be deeply rooted in the Korean communities. Toward this end, it added, all Chongryun workers should radically improve their working styles and methods.

In the last part, the reporter pointed to the importance for Chongryun to make unique contributions to accelerating the national reunification as well as the DPRK’s powerful nation construction drive. He went on: 

Every possible effort on the part of Chongryun must be made to bring about an earlier unification of the country hand in hand with all Korean residents in Japan by transcending the differences in ideology, affiliation, and social standing in accordance with the spirit of the historic north-south joint declaration of last year.

In the meantime, Chongryun should actively contribute to the DPRK’s economic construction in the fields of industry, agriculture, science and technology, joint venture, and trade.

At the same time, external activities should be developed actively in a bid to materialize the normalization of diplomatic relations between the DPRK and Japan as soon as possible and to create circumstances in favor of Chongryun’s activities and daily lives of Koreans in Japan. And closer daily contacts with Japan’s local autonomous governments and civic groups should be made to develop friendship, cooperation, and mutual understanding and thereby enjoy active support from among them.

The first vice-chairman concluded his report by appealing to the participants to be pacesetters in creating a model of expatriates’ movement in the new century.