Zainichi (在日) is short for "Zainichi Chōsenjin" (Koreans/Chosun people in Japan, 在日朝鮮人, 재일조선인) or "Zainichi Kankokujin" (South Koreans in Japan, 在日韓国人, 재일한국인), meaning the Korean residents of Japan.

Strictly speaking, the term refers only to long term, permanent residents of Japan who have retained either their Joseon or South Korean nationalities, not ethnic Koreans who have acquired Japanese nationality through naturalisation. However, a broader interpretation of the term includes naturalised ethnic Koreans as well as recent migrants from South Korea.

The Japanese word Zai-nichi itself means "staying in Japan." For example, Zainichi-Gaikokujin (在日外国人) refers to "foreign nationals living in Japan," while Rainichi-Gaikokujin refers to visiting aliens. However, "Zainichi" usually refers to Zainichi Koreans because of their significant presence in Japanese society.

"Zainichi" in Korean is "Jaeil" (재일).

Zainichi Koreans constitute the largest ethnic minority group in Japan. According to the statistics at Immigration Bureau of Japan there were 613,791 Zainichi Korean as of year 2003. Many Zainichi today are 4th generation descendants and predominantly use Japanese as their primary language.

[edit] History

Modern Zainichi Koreans can trace their diaspora to the early 20th century under the Imperial Japanese rule. In 1910 as the result of Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty Korean people all became the subjects of the Empire of Japan. Japanese land and production confiscation initiatives against Korean farmers during the 1910s created economic migrants during the 1920s. Also noteworthy was the large number of Jeju-do residents who migrated to Japan to escape discrimination in Korea during this period. Korean migrants in mainland Japan, technically having equal civil rights as Japanese citizens, included elected members of the Imperial Diet while others represented Japan in international sporting events, however most were often subject to considerable social prejudice.

Between 1939 and 1945, labour shortages due to war led to a series of official policies which recruited Koreans to work in Japan. Increasing elements of coersion and deception culminated in the mobilisation of Japanese civilians for labour being extended to Korea in 1944. Those who were brought to Japan were forced to work in factories, in mines and as labourers, often under appalling conditions. Most of the wartime labourers went home after the war, but many remained.

Zainichi Koreans were still Japanese in 1945, and 148 Korean-Japanese in the Imperial Japanese military were convicted at local war crime tribunals in Asia of Class B and C war crimes, 23 of whom were sentenced to death. [1] Japan's defeat in the war left the nationality status of Zainichi Koreans in an ambiguous position in terms of law. The Alien Registration Ordinance (外国人登録令) in May 2, 1947 classified all Korean-Japanese as foreign nationals. Their nationality was provisionally registered under the name of Joseon (Chōsen in Japanese, 朝鮮, 조선), the old name of undivided Korea.

In 1948 the northern and southern parts of Korea declared independence individually, that made Joseon, or the old undivided Korea, a defunct nation. The new government of Republic of Korea (South Korea) made a request to the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers, then the occupying power of Japan, to change the nationality registration of Zainichi Koreans to Daehan Minguk (Daikan Minkoku in Japanese, 大韓民國, 대한민국), the official name of the new nation. Following this, from 1950 onwards, Zainichi Koreans were allowed to voluntarily re-register their nationality as such.

The Allied occupation of Japan ended in April 28, 1952 with the San Francisco Peace Treaty, in which Japan formally abandoned her territorial claim to the Korean Peninsula, and as a result, Zainichi Koreans formally lost their Japanese nationality. In 1965 Japan concluded a Treaty on Basic Relations with South Korea and recognized the South Korean government as the only legitimate government of Korea. Pro-North Korean Zainichi Koreans remained with Chōsen status as the Japanese government does not recognize North Korea as a legitimate state. The pro-North General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, or Chongryon, was set up in 1955, and in the late 1950's started a campaign to persuade Zainichi Koreans to migrate to North Korea, which it hailed as a socialist "Paradise on Earth". Some 90,000 Zainichi Koreans and their Japanese spouses moved to the North before the migration eventually died down as the conditions which awaited them became increasingly clear. Well into at least the 1970's, Chongryon was the dominant Zainichi group, and in some ways remains more politically significant today in Japan. However, the widening disparity between the political and economic conditions of the two Koreas has since made Mindan, the pro-South Korean group, the larger and certainly the less politically controversial faction. 65% of Zainichi are now said to be affiliated with Mindan.

The relationship and loyalty of those Zainichi Koreans who chose to side with the communist North Korea is more complex than most South Koreans and Japanese assume. Those who maintained their identity as Chonsenjin (i.e. those who kept their Joseon nationality) and hence their membership of Chongryon enjoyed the active financial support and advisement of the North Korean government, which among other things helped pay for and organize Korean schools. While those schools were certainly centers for communist indoctrination, they nevertheless provided necessary schooling for Koreans. Furthermore, Chongryon schools mandatorily taught Korean, which is why most Zainichi educated in Chongryon schools can still speak some Korean to this day, while few Mindan Koreans have retained their Korean language skills. Likewise, Chongryon-operated businesses and banks provided necessary jobs, services and social networks for Chōsenjin who were largely shut out of mainstream Japanese society. It is not a coincidence that since institutional and societal discrimination toward Zainichi has become greatly reduced in recent years, Chongryon has become greatly reduced in its influence and membership as more and more Zainichi have been able to partipate in mainstream Japanese society.

Zainichi who maintained their Joseon nationalities have been called "North Koreans in Japan" in English by writers such as Sonia Ryang. While this term is not technically incorrect, it is somewhat misleading. Zainichi Chōsenjin in the vast majority of cases settled in Japan before the modern state of North Korea was instituted, and in the vast majority of cases originate from the south of the Korean Peninsula. Their status as "North Koreans" is based almost entirely on their historical ideological loyalties.

[edit] Situation today

Zainichi today have established a stable existence in Japan after decades of intense hardship. Years of activism, such as Mintohren, and community support by Zainichi organizations (Mindan, Chongryon, Mintoren, among others), other minority groups (Ainu, Burakumin, Ryukyuans, Uilta, Nivkhs and others), and sympathetic Japanese have improved the societal atmosphere for Zainichi in Japan.

The divide in the Korean peninsula continues to affect Zainichi society. About 35% of Zainichi Koreans are affiliated to the pro-North Chongryon, and many send their children to one of about 60 Korean schools throughout Japan. Due to their historical origins - all were set up with support from the North - they maintain a strong pro-Pyeongyang ideology, which have sometimes come under criticism from pupils, parents and the public alike. Until very recently, graduates of Chongryon schools were not even permitted to take public university entrance exams, as they were not classified as regular schools, but rather in the same category as cooking or driving schools. However, now that most such blatant institutional discrimination has ended, the number of pupils receiving ethnic education have declined sharply, with many of not most Zainichi now opting to send their children to mainstream Japanese schools. Some Chongryon schools have been closed for lack of funding, and there is serious doubt as to the continuing viability of the system as a whole. Mindan has also traditionally operated a school system for the children of its members, although it has been always been less widespread and organized compared to its Chongryon counterpart, and is said to be nearly defunct at the present time.

In general, Chongryon is a declining organization primarily maintained by older Zainichi Chosenjin who appreciate the contributions the organization and the North Korean government has made to their lives, regardless of present political conditions. In comparison, third- and fourth-generation Zainichi Chosenjin have largely given up active participation or loyalty to the Chongryon ideology. Reasons stated for this increased disassociation include widespread mainstream tolerance of Koreans by Japanese in recent years, greatly reducing the need to rely on Chongryon, and the increasing unpopularity of Kim Jong Il even among loyal members of Chongryon. Many Zainichi Chosenjin also felt deeply betrayed by the North Korean government's recent admission that it had kidnapped 13 Japanese citizens over the years, because Chongryon had been categorically and fiercing denying for many years that the abductions had ever taken place. Whether the officials of Chongryon had known of the kidnappings or not, ordinary members of Chongryon who had believed the party line felt deeply humiliated and disillusioned upon discovering that they had been used as mouthpieces to deny what was seen in Japan as serious wrongdoing by North Korea.

Most younger Zainichi, and the vast majority of those affiliated with Mindan which never had a particularly strong ideological base, now speak only Japanese, work for Japanese firms and increasingly marry Japanese. Some opt to gain Japanese citizenship though naturalisation; according the statistics at the Ministry of Justice of Japan, about 10,000 Koreans naturalize in Japan every year. Others choose to retain their South Korean or Chosen nationality as part of their heritage (neither Japanese or South Korean nationality laws allow multiple citizenship for adults).

Traditionally Zainichi Koreans used Japanese names in public, primarily to avoid discrimination, but recent trends for some Zainichis, including celebrities and professional sportsmen, to use their Korean names reflect the diminishing levels of prejudice in Japanese society. Masaichi Son, often considered the up-and-coming Bill Gates of Japan, does not attempt to disguise his Korean heritage. Other well-known Japanese of Korean descent include Hanshin Tigers star Tomoaki Kanemoto and pro wrestlers Riki Choshu and Akira Maeda, although these individuals continue to use their Japanese names.

However, North Korea's 2002 revelation that it had abducted Japanese nationals and its nuclear weapons programme has led to a resurgence of public animosity against the pro-North Chongryon, which has traditionally been accused of various activities, such as espionage, drug smuggling and fund-raising for North Korea, to greater or lesser degrees.

The continued operation of the Mangyongbong-92 (temporarily suspended for six months as of July 2006), a North Korean ferry that is the only regular direct link between North Korea and Japan, is also a subject of significant tension as the ferry is primarily used by Chongryon to send its members to North Korea and to supply North Korea with money and goods donated by the organization and its members. Although the humanitarian aspect of such contributions cannot be denied, particularly given that older Chongryon members have immediate family in North Korea, Chongryon members also continue to send lavish gifts, such as cash, expensive western liquor and Japanese beef, to Kim Jong Il and other high-ranking North Korean officials. North Korean defectors have also stated that more than 90% of the parts used by North Korea to construct its missiles were brought from Japan.

In May 2006, Chongryon and the pro-South Mindan agreed to reconcile, only for the agreement to break down the following month due to Mindan's distrust of Chongryon. North Korea's missile tests in July 2006 have deepened the divide, with outraged senior Mindan officials (as well as mainstream Japanese politicians and media) sharply criticizing Chongryon's silence over the matter. Chongryon has refused to condemn the missile tests, expressing only its regret that the Japanese government has suspended the operation of the Mangyongbong-92.

[edit] External links

• South Korean Residents Union in Japan (Mindan) (Korean, Japanese, English)
• North Korean Residents Union in Japan (Joseon Chongryon) (Korean, Japanese)
• The Han World - a site for Korean residents in Japan.
• The Self-Identities of Zainichi Koreans - a paper on Zainichi.
• MINTOHREN: Young Koreans Against Ethnic Discrimination in Japan
• Panel discussion in San Francisco Nichi Bei Times Article

This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original article was at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zainichi_Korean. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. The text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License..