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Pro-Seoul group Mindan President Ha Byeong Ok,left, and pro-Pyongayng group Chongryun chairman So Man Sul,right, walked to a conference room to discuss reconciliation on May 17 in Tokyo. Tokyo/Yonhap
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Draft of agreement called hasty
The head of Mindan, the pro-Seoul group of Korean residents in Japan, hinted Saturday that a statement of reconciliation with its pro-Pyongyang counterpart may have to be scrapped.
"The agreement appears to have returned to the starting point," said at an extraordinary central committee meeting in Tokyo yesterday, referring to the reconciliation statement it signed with the pro-North Chongryun group in May.
Ha convened the meeting in response to growing opposition to the landmark statement among regional Mindan chapters and organizations.
Many in Mindan's ranks have opposed the reconciliation with Chongryun out of concern over North Korean involvement in various crimes in Japan, including alleged drug-running, counterfeiting and the abduction of Japanese citizens. The past several weeks also mark a critical time in international affairs, with Pyongyang appearing prepared to test-launch a missile, complicating the terms of such a reconciliation.
During the meeting, some central committee members presented a motion calling for the retraction of the statement of reconciliation. The central committee did not vote on the motion. Still, Mr. Ha's remarks were taken to indicate Mindan would soon have to start from scratch in terms of whether to maintain the reconciliation statement, which the top leaders of Mindan and Chongryun signed May 17 after decades of conflict between the two groups. Those opposed to the reconciliation statement have accused Mindan's leadership of signing the statement prior to discussion by its central committee or central executive committee. "We apologize to you over the procedure we took before signing the statement," Mr. Ha said at the meeting. He indicated that all five current Mindan vice presidents would resign. Participants at the meeting grilled Mr. Ha, one asking, "Why aren't you stepping down, even though other top officials are being asked to resign?" Groups against Mr. Ha's stance and reconciliation with Chongryun are expected to call an emergency meeting to seek his resignation. Meanwhile, a spokesman of Chongryun declined to comment, saying the group has not received any information from Mindan on the matter.
