Tax benefits being enjoyed by the pro-North Korea General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryun) have been upheld by the Kumamoto (Kyushu) District Court. This was the first court decision concerning whether Chongryun’s assets should be subject to local taxes.

A number of local governments have exempted or reduced taxes for properties owned by Chongryun because of its perceived function as a de facto diplomatic mission. Japan and North Korea do not have diplomatic ties.

But some localities have reversed their policies and started imposing full taxes on the properties, particularly after North Korea admitted in September 2002 that its agents abducted 13 Japanese in the 1970s and 1980s.

The Kumamoto lawsuit was filed by the Kumamoto chapter of the National Association for the Rescue of Japanese Kidnapped by North Korea (NARKN), which took the position that the state should not be granting extra-legal special privileges to certain residents. NARKN immediately appealed the Kumamoto ruling to the Fukuoka High Court.