Arab News Japan

TOKYO: The Tokyo High Court heard evidence on Friday in a lawsuit against North Korea and its leader Kim Jong Un over the “kidnapping and forcible confinement” of Korean citizens who were repatriated from Japan.

Five plaintiffs launched the lawsuit but one has since died. They allege that family members were tricked into returning to North Korea, where they were discriminated against and lived in miserable conditions, even compared to other North Koreans. 

These Korean residents of Japan were persuaded to go to North Korea as a result of the 1959-84 “Paradise on Earth” campaign that painted an idyllic existence in the Communist state. However, they were forced to live in harsh conditions and at best could only escape illegally.

The plaintiffs are asking for $880,000 in damages.

Plaintiff Eiko Kawasaki, 81, said in a press conference that Japanese justice remains slow compared to South Korea and the United States, but the most important purpose of the case is to be able to see her family again. She no longer has communication with her family in North Korea.

During the trial, no representative of the North Korean government was present. Japan no longer has official diplomatic relations with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.