The war was over. But I was still living in a foreign land, fighting against discrimination. Now living as an immigrant, fighting against discrimination and waging my own battle. One day, someone suggested that I return to my home country. I eagerly accepted the proposal. Finally, I arrived at what I had been told would be paradise, only to find myself forever trapped in it. That was North Korea... From 1959 to 1984, 93,340 Korean residents in Japan were forcibly repatriated to North Korea after being deceived by a joint scheme between the Japanese and North Korean governments. Considering the number of people repatriated in the subsequent years, the actual total figure is estimated to be even higher. After being repatriated to what they had believed to be a paradise, they lost their dignity and freedom, suffering countless human rights violations. Repatriated Zainichi Koreans were classified as a part of the hostile class and were forcibly assigned to work as

construction laborers, miners, farmers, and fishermen in rural areas, being deprived of basic freedoms in North Korea. In the end, their only means of making a living was to rely on financial aid from their families in Japan. However, while this financial support provided some economic stability, it also increased discrimination and made them targets of jealousy and threats of extortion. After losing World War II, Japan faced economic hardships and came to view the approximately 600,000 Koreans residing in their country as a burden. Consequently, the Japanese government started to restrict their rights to education, voting, and job opportunities and denied them fair opportunities. The General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon), which was essentially a branch of the Workers' Party of North Korea, conspired with the Japanese government to deceive ethnic Koreans in Japan by creating a false image of North Korea as a paradise. They promised that repatriates would receive homes and jobs and could return to Japan within three years.

But everything was a lie—a grand scheme of deception. North Korea meticulously hid the existence of these victims in order to make sure their stories did not reach us. These stories are shared by the victims who managed to escape North Korea and return to Japan or come to South Korea. The 2014 report from the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea classifies the repatriation program as “abduction.” In the 1960s, the repatriation program was referred to as a 'return to home’ program in Japan and North Korea, while it was called 'send to the North' program in South Korea. This is a historic deception orchestrated by North Korea and the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon). The victims of this repatriation program are now elderly, and their time is running out. While we are still alive, we must seek legal measures to establish the truth, and I believe this is the only way to help our friends who are still in North Korea.”

희대의 사기극, 지상낙원의 함정ㅣ북송재일교포ㅣ1959년ㅣ적대계층

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