Chongryon

General Association of Korean Residents in Japan

Former headquarters of Ch'ongryŏn, Chiyoda, Tokyo
Abbreviation	Ch'ongryŏn, Chōsen Sōren
Predecessor	Minsen[1]
Formation	March 30, 1955; 69 years ago (1955-03-30)[contradictory]
Type	NGO
Location	Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan
Coordinates	35°41′49″N 139°44′37″E / 35.696972°N 139.7435°E / 35.696972; 139.7435
Region served	Japan
Official language	Korean, Japanese
Chairman	Pak Ku-ho[2]
Key people	Han Duk-su, founder
Main organ	General Assembly
Parent organisation	United Front Department of the Workers' Party of Korea
Website	www.chongryon.com

The General Association of Korean Residents in Japan,^[3] abbreviated as Chongryon^[3] (Korean: 총련; Hanja: 總聯; RR: Chongryeon; MR: Ch'ongryŏn) or Chōsen Sōren (Japanese: 朝鮮総連),^[4] is one of two main organisations for Zainichi Koreans (Korean citizens or residents of Japan), the other being Mindan. It has close ties to North Korea and functions as North Korea's de facto embassy in Japan, as there are no diplomatic relations between the two countries.^[5][6] The organisation is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and there are prefectural and regional head offices and branches throughout Japan.

Mindan, officially the Korean Residents Union in Japan, contrastingly consists of Zainichi Koreans who have adopted South Korean nationality. As of 2018, among 610,000 Korean residents in Japan who have not adopted Japanese nationality, 25 percent are affiliated with the Chongryon, and 65 percent are affiliated with Mindan.^[7] As of 2016, PSIA reported that Chongryon had 70,000 members.

Chongryon's strong links to North Korea, its allegiance to the North Korean ideology and its opposition to integration of Koreans into Japanese society have made it controversial in Japan. Acts which Chongryon officials are suspected of include illicit transfer of funds to North Korea, espionage, drug smuggling and the smuggling of electronics and missile parts.^[8] The Chongryon has been described by the Washington Post as a "very effective sanctions-busting enterprise".^[9] Its wide variety of businesses, including banks and pachinko parlors, are used to generate funds for the North Korean government.^[9]

There are numerous organisations affiliated with the Chongryon, including 18 mass propaganda bodies and 23 business enterprises, with one of its most important business sectors being pachinko. The organisation also operates about 60 Korean schools and a Korean university, as well as banks and other facilities in Japan. Chongryon schools teach a strong pro-North Korean ideology.

In recent years, the organization has run into severe financial trouble, with debts of over US$750 million, and was ordered by court in 2012 to dispose of most of its assets, including its Tokyo headquarters.^[10]

According to an interview with Mitsuhiro Suganuma, former head of the Public Security Intelligence Agency's Second Intelligence Department, Chongryon is under the control of the United Front Department of the Workers' Party of Korea's Liaison Department.^[11]