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Japanese Taxpayers Will Fund North Korean Propaganda

The Japanese government has apparently decided that they will use taxpayers’ money to fund private schools that teach students loyalty to Kim Jong-il’s North Korean regime:

The ministry has ruled that foreign schools, such as international schools outside the national school system, are eligible in principle for free education. However, the pro-Pyongyang schools do not comply with the policy’s criteria, which stipulate the schools must be equivalent to Japanese high schools through checks with the home countries concerned, or that their curricula are accredited by an international organization.

However, a majority of the expert panel thought it reasonable to consider the pro-North Korean schools as having similar courses as Japanese high schools because many Japanese universities have granted admission to graduates of the pro-Pyongyang schools, whose course of study somewhat follows their Japanese counterpart.

If the ministry decides in favor of the pro-North Korean schools, it will provide annual education grants of about 120,000 yen per student, backdated to April.

This is a truly unfortunate development. If the schools do not comply with the policy’s criteria, there is no need to go out of one’s way to rationalize their inclusion in the program. It is very sad that the Japanese government lacks the courage to deny public funding to schools with ties to a hostile totalitarian regime.

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26 comments - What do you think? Posted by James - August 30, 2010 at 1:31 pm

Categories: Foreigners in Japan Tags:

Hamachiman

Truly unfortunate indeed.

This just proves how emasculated Japanese officials have become, so afraid of being labeled ‘racist’ and xenophobic ‘hate mongers’ from the anti Japan crowd that they are capitulating to these propaganda machines. Schools that preach the glory of a country that consistently preaches the evils of Japan. How pathetic is that?

And for what? Many citizens of both North and South Korea have already proven that nothing Japanese officials say or do, not one single bloody thing, to try and right past wrongs, or be pro active in being friendly, does one bit of good to them.

Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Shame on this decision if it goes ahead.
Piglet

I understand your point James, and I can of agree with what you say. But, at the same time, should the kids be held responsible for the crimes of the North Korean government or the misguided loyalty of their parents?
I know a girl who’s been a student of such schools. According to her, the propaganda is fortunately not that widespread and apparently most students don’t believe in it (I don’t know about their parents). As you know, many North Koreans in Japan have taken South Korean citizenship and the trend is getting stronger and stronger. My friend switched passport after being invited to North Korea (which made her feel very uncomfortable) and learning about NK crimes on Internet. Soon North Koreans will represent a very very small minority of Korean-Japanese. I don’t believe most of these students will turn into NK propaganda drones.

http://www.japanprobe.com James

should the kids be held responsible for the crimes of the North Korean government or the misguided loyalty of their parents?

Should the misguided parents who send their children to pro-Pyongyang schools be rewarded with Japanese tax money?

I am not advocating punishment for the children. I happen to think they’d be a lot better off if they attending properly accredited schools that don’t teach a curriculum that consists of pro-Pyongyang propaganda.

I am well aware of the fact that most of the kids who graduate from Chosen schools don’t fully buy into the propaganda that they are taught in school. At best, that would just mean that they would graduate high school without ever having studied reality-based history or social studies. At worst, it would produce an adult with pro-DPRK leanings. The Japanese government should not be spending public funds to subsidize screwed-up educations for these people.

http://tepido.org/ LB

Unfortunately the government got itself into this mess when it announced that it wanted to make high school education “free” for all students. While this is a worthy aim, the government wouldn’t stop at public schools (as I think they should have). I am all for providing access to free public schooling for all up through high school. But I do not see why parents who choose to send their kids to alternative schools should get their choice subsidized by taxpayers.* There are public schools available, and if the parent(s) decide that school does not meet their child’s needs they should foot the bill themselves.

*An exception should be available if, for example, there is no public school in the community. That was the case where I grew up, and we all went to a private school that received payment from the town in exchange for being “the town high school” (meaning for example they could never refuse a town student admission and had to meet state guidelines).

Piglet

Exactly, the government should focus on funding public education, which strongly needs additional funding in Japan. Since they also decided to fund private education, it would be considered as discriminatory not to fund NK schools. Basically they should have announced that public education is free up to university, nothing more.

http://tepido.org/ LB

Since they also decided to fund private education, it would be considered as discriminatory not to fund NK schools.

Well, they had an out there too but blew it: only fund Ministry of Education-accredited private schools. That would have solved the problem as well (well, the Norks would still have bitched, but…), but no, some genius decided “let’s fund schools even if they aren’t accredited, so long as they meet the standards of schools in the “home country” of the students and teachers”. That was where things went horribly wrong, because even though Chosen Soren schools are unaccredited, and there is practically speaking no way to say if they meet DPRK standards or not*, once that door was opened the Chosen Soren had a foot in the door like an Amway dealer from Hell.

*I would imagine the North Korean schools in Japan well surpass the standards of North Korean schools, as the students are actually allowed to eat and there is less class time wasted on “mass game practice”.

keiko

This is resulted from a desperate attempt by the DLP to form a coalition government with the Komeito(New Clean Government Party) which is affiliated with Soka Gakkai, a neo-Buddhist Organization designated by some European countries as a cult religion. The boss of Soka Gakkai, Daisaku Ikeda, is said to be a naturalized Japanese born at a Koreans ghetto in Omori, Tokyo. He is said to be still loyal to Korea rather than Japan. This is exemplified by the way their publication materials always mention “Korean-Japanese”, not “Japanese-Korean” when referring to the bilateral relations. The Komeito is also trying hard to give the right to vote to foreigners(Koreans in particular) and to subsidize the pro-Pyonyang schools. The DLP is playing up to the Komeito.

Bigfujisan

I am no fan of Soka, but this is the kind of crap the far right spouts all the time.

The reason the far right hate Soka Gakkai is because the original leaders of Soka stood up to the militarist government during WW2.
They were jailed for their dissent and one *died* in jail.

As for the Korean schools, I know a couple of people who graduated from them and they have no particular fondness for the nutter Kim.

The government funding means that students who graduate from the schools will receive a graduation certificate recognised in Japan.

The fairer you treat them, the less they will like North Korea.

http://tepido.org/ LB

“The reason the far right hate Soka Gakkai is because the original leaders of Soka stood up to the militarist government during WW2. They were jailed for their dissent and one *died* in jail.”

Yes, but those were the “good old days”, when Soka Gakkai was actually concerned with Buddhist thought. They lost their way starting back in the 1970s, though, and for almost 20 years now have been the Cult of Ikeda.

But anyway…

“The government funding means that students who graduate from the schools will receive a graduation certificate recognised in Japan.”

Where did you hear that? I haven’t seen anything in the press that indicates that the Education Ministry is now going to accredit Chosen Soren schools – they will still be classed the same as “auto mechanic schools” or “hairdresser schools”, and their diplomas will be largely worthless.

There is something to be said for “the fairer you treat them”, but it is a two-way street. The Education Ministry is willing to give accreditation to the schools, but they have to show they meet Japanese standards. They adamantly refuse to do so.

flowby

Do you mean that all those years of “coziness” between the conservative LDP & Komeito was to get “in” with Korea?

And I’m not so sure what your meaning is re “…said to be a naturalized Japanese born at a Koreans ghetto in Omori”

If you are insinuating he is a somewhat leser than desirable human because of that, well you just confirm all the ills of misguided nationalistic fervour.

If you don’t mean that, then I’m sorry for suggesting the above.

But please explain if you can, what possible benefit such a comment would have to this discussion.

And back on topic, funding of private schools with tax money is controversial in many places. Why should public money be spent on education for the private sector?

As an atheist in my home country I have questioned the spending of billions of dollars over years subsidizing religiously affiliated schools.

We could take all of this much further and suggest why should any of one’s taxes be used for something one disagrees with.

Why should a pacicfists taxes support the military?

Why should my car, gasoline taxes support the bicyclists/pedestrians in their free use of the road infra-structure?

But then it all gets a bit stupid.

keiko

I am simply stating his background which would help explain why Ikeda is still more loyal to Korea than to Japan. He grew up in the neighborhood where he was most likely discriminated against by Japanese, which explains many Koreans in Japan harbor a grudge against Japan and the Japanese and refuse to be naturalized.

The Korean parents should encourage their kids to study at schools in North Korea if they really want the kids to learn the (North)Korean culture and ideas. They will literally learn the hard way.

gadfly

Where is the proof that Ikeda Daisaku was born in a Korean neighborhood? Considering how many Korean members of Soka Gakkai there are, I extremely doubt that revealing his Korean heritage would hurt Ikeda’s popularity. I mean if you follow SGI at all, it’s hard to imagine anything that would hurt his popularity. There is a reason many people call it a “cult of personality.”

Anyway, you are obviously a troll, and it is time to stop feeding you. For those who are wondering what a troll is, here is a definition from the Urban Dictionary: One who posts a deliberately provocative message to a newsgroup or message board with the intention of causing maximum disruption and argument.

http://www.mutantfrog.com/ Adamu

These schools should remain privately funded, just like the fundies in the US who home-school their kids not to believe in evolution.
Level3

Funding these Nork schools is nuts.
The Norks will probably (definitely) lie to the parents and students about the funding.

Either say the money is from the Great Leader, or from a Japanese government fearful of the Great Leader and paying as tribute to him (and in this case, how can we tell the difference?)

Worse, government subsidies for any private school will tend to lead to the same thing. Rising tuition. Just look at college tuition in America. Schools know the parents will get a subsidy, so they know if parents could already pay x last year, and this year they get y in subsidy, then the school can raise tuition up to x+y and the parents could still afford it. Such a sudden jump would piss them off though, so they’ll only raise tuition 10% or so a year until it reaches x+y, and then parents will demand subsidy y be increased. Politicians will say “Yes”. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Private schools and colleges get rich off tax money.

One thing is practically guaranteed. No private school tuition will be less than the subsidy. An administrator would have to be nuts to set tuition lower than the amount of “free” money the parents can get, and that amount is practically guaranteed to increase over the years, just like any government program.

In the case of Nork schools, I assume the parents aren’t allowed to object or raise criticism of the Dear Leader in any way if the Nork schools just immediately jump the tuition to x+y in one year. It’ll be a nice test of loyalty. But not one I want my taxes paying for.
http://www.chirimotsumoreba.net Jordan

“However, a majority of the expert panel thought it reasonable to consider the pro-North Korean schools as having similar courses as Japanese high schools because many Japanese universities have granted admission to graduates of the pro-Pyongyang schools, whose course of study somewhat follows their Japanese counterpart.”

What in the hell does this have to do with this:

“the pro-Pyongyang schools do not comply with the policy’s criteria, which stipulate the schools must be equivalent to Japanese high schools through checks with the home countries concerned, or that their curricula are accredited by an international organization.”

So some of the kids from these schools get into college in Japan. What’s does that even have to do with anything? This is some insanely faulty reasoning. If the curriculum does not abide by what has been decided on as acceptable by the Ministry of Education, they shouldn’t get funding. Period.

I can’t understand why some, presumably many on the Left in Japan, coddle this insane regime that wants to destroy Japan. I’m far from a right winger, but this is absolutely insane.

Joe

“I can’t understand why some, presumably many on the Left in Japan, coddle this insane regime….”

Why on earth would anybody “on the left” support a regime run by a nutjob who lives in luxury while his people starve?

I’m used to seeing “the left” blamed for pretty much all the world’s ills, (Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh), but this is ridiculous.

http://tepido.org/ LB

“Why on earth would anybody “on the left” support a regime run by a nutjob who lives in luxury while his people starve?”

Who knows, but at least here in Japan they did. The Socialist party was best buddies with the Kims, continually flagellating Japan for its crimes during the war, insisting that the North was a victim, or that the North never kidnapped Japanese because hey, they said so!

Takako Doi was directly responsible IMHO for the deaths of three kidnapped Japanese, who managed to smuggle a letter out to their families. When the families went to the Japanese government they were told that since there were no diplomatic relations between Japan and the DPRK it was too difficult to do anything. So they went to the Socialist Party, and Takako Doi took the letter and presented it to Pyongyang asking “what is this about?”

Shortly after that all three Japanese were “killed in an automobile accident” as they were “driving to the beach”.

The Japan Communist Party has historically been somewhat more distanced from Pyongyang, but they often put themselves on the “same side” – Kim, Mao, Lenin and the JCP.

Even now it is the left wing of Japanese politics that pushes for special rights for the Zainichi, aid to North Korea, disarmament of Japan and the end of the US-Japanese security treaty (well, OK, the right wing is for the last one too, but it is what is supposed to happen afterwards that they differ on).

I will agree that Rush, Sarah Palin et al. blame the left for everything, but on this one (as long as we are talking about the Japanese Left), sadly, it is true.

http://www.chirimotsumoreba.net Jordan

Thanks, LB. I’m pretty sure I wrote “many on the left in Japan,” yep, it’s right there, but thank you for taking the time to explain.

In coddling these schools by allowing them to be funded by Japanese taxpayers, the Japanese left is coddling the regime in North Korea. As LB said, they’ve been doing this sort of thing for Pro-DRPK Zainichi in Japan for some time now. It’s no secret.

Anywho, Rush, Palin, et al. do not apply here.

keiko

Many Americans are against the Ground Zero Mosque. Obama spoke out in defense of freedom of religion. However, does the US allow Islam schools which hang pictures of Osama bin laden and are subsidized with American taxpayers money? Pro-Pyonyang schools are illegal in South Korea.

InJM

I don’t think they fund schools where they hang pictures of Jesus either.

me

I hope Japan doesn’t go the way of the US and Europe- where being PC is more important than saying/doing what’s right.

NONE OF MY BEESWAX

What do you mean by that?

NONE OF MY BEESWAX

I know I’m not Japanese, but WHAT THE FUCK! But this is yet another example of the Japan’s “SAVE FACE” politics. Rather than make it clear that they don’t except propaganda that goes against their country, they instead try to avoid being called racist. Soon, North Korea is going to rule the place.
M

This is exactly like if the US would pay taliban sponsored madrases.

http://tepido.org/ LB

I am pretty sure the US did pay for Taliban-run madrases – back in the 1980s, in Pakistan.

Infinitepla

I can’t see how North Korean politics will relate with Daisaku Ikeda, especially when Google for his name & Korea together.

Japanese Taxpayers Will Fund North Korean Propaganda

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