North Korea's 'Paradise on Earth' Scheme: A Living Hell for Japanese Settlers
In the 1960s, Eiko Kawasaki, a 17-year-old of Korean descent, left Japan for North Korea, lured by the promise of a socialist utopia. She was among tens of thousands who became victims of an elaborate scheme orchestrated by the North Korean regime. The promise of a 'paradise on Earth' with free education, healthcare, jobs, and housing turned out to be a cruel mirage.
Kawasaki and her fellow settlers faced a living hell. They were denied basic human rights and subjected to extreme hardship. The North Korean government prevented them from visiting their families in Japan, leaving them isolated and vulnerable. This week, after years of campaigning, four settlers who managed to escape to Japan received a glimmer of justice. A Tokyo court ordered the North Korean government to pay each of them at least 20 million yen (approximately £94,000) in compensation.
Between 1959 and 1984, over 90,000 zainichi, people of Korean descent living in Japan, fell victim to North Korea's scheme. The regime, with the support of the Japanese government and the International Committee of the Red Cross, lured them with promises of a socialist paradise. However, many were taken to Japan against their will during Japan's colonial rule of the Korean peninsula, to work in mines and factories.
Kawasaki, now 83, was overwhelmed with emotion after the verdict. She acknowledged that she and her fellow plaintiffs were unlikely to receive any compensation due to the North Korean government's disregard for the court order. The Tokyo High Court has no means to enforce the ruling, as it symbolically summoned North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to testify.
Kenji Fukuda, the chief lawyer for the case, suggested confiscating North Korean assets and property in Japan as a realistic option to retrieve the money. The plaintiffs, who launched their action in 2018, are among an estimated 150 people who have escaped the North Korean program and returned to Japan. The initiative was backed by the Japanese government, portrayed as a humanitarian effort to assist Koreans facing discrimination in Japan.
Kawasaki, a second-generation zainichi, realized she had been deceived upon arrival in North Korea. She stayed for 43 years until 2003, when she defected to Japan via China, leaving her adult children behind. One of her daughters and her grandchildren have since escaped from North Korea, but she has had no contact with her other children since the regime sealed the borders during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The story of Eiko Kawasaki and the other settlers highlights the dark reality behind North Korea's 'paradise on Earth' scheme, a scheme that has left many Japanese settlers with a living hell of their own.
