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Monday June 18, 3:13 PM3RD LD: Court orders Chongryon to repay RCC debts, OKs seizure of head office(Kyodo) _ (EDS: ADDING JUDGE'S COMMENTS; INCORPORATING STORY HEADLINED 'LEAD: PLAN TO SELL CHONGRYON HEAD OFFICE ABANDONED AHEAD OF RULING')The Tokyo District Court on Monday ordered the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, or Chongryon, to repay 62.7 billion yen as demanded to a governmental debt-collection body, and allowed seizure of the premises of the Chongryon headquarters in lieu of payment. The Resolution and Collection Corp. is expected to start procedures soon to impound the headquarters of Chongryon, which has functioned as the de facto North Korean embassy in Japan for decades as the two countries have no diplomatic ties. The court mostly rejected Chongryon's arguments, with Presiding Judge Tsutomu Arai saying, "Even if RCC acquired the debts at low prices, the body is not to be criticized at all when it demands payment of the loans at face value or when it does not go against the corporate principle." The judge also said, "We did not recognize there was any political purpose to deprive Chongryon of its premises, leading it to dissolution." Chongryon said the RCC, which has the nature of a public organization, offended "public order and morality" by filing the suit. RCC claimed the 62.7 billion yen represents loans extended by now-defunct "chogin" credit unions associated with Chongryon which became bad. The unions were main lenders to pro-Pyongyang Korean residents in Japan. The RCC, which took over the nonperforming loans from the credit unions, claimed Chongryon is bound to pay the 62.7 billion yen as the money was effectively handed over to Chongryon under arrangements made by the credit associations. Chongryon acknowledged the existence of the debts but failed to reach an out-of-court settlement with the RCC. In connection with the suit, former governmental intelligence chief Shigetake Ogata caused a public controversy when his investment advisory firm tried unsuccessfully to buy the Chongryon head office for 3.5 billion yen, in an effort to avert seizure of the premises. The Public Security Intelligence Agency under the Justice Ministry monitors Chongryon along with other organizations the agency says could pose a threat to Japanese security. Earlier Monday, veteran lawyer Koken Tsuchiya, representing the association, said he took procedures to transfer the ownership of the properties on the official registry back to the association from Ogata's company. Tsuchiya told a press conference in Tokyo, "I apologize for causing a disturbance to the public, owing in part to misunderstanding." Tsuchiya formerly headed the Japan Federation of Bar Association. But Tsuchiya criticized the RCC, saying the purpose of the suit was to try to "destroy the Chongryon organization and that could lead authorities to deprive innocent Korean residents in Japan of happiness and (affect their) lives." The ownership of the Chongryon premises had been transferred in a deal that was not immediately accompanied by any payment, prompting law-enforcement officials to suspect it was a fake transaction and to search last week the homes and offices of Tsuchiya and Ogata. |
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