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A screenshot of the Japanese Pension Service website
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Denounces progressive intellectuals and calls for denying further entry in Japan for Koreans
An official at an institution affiliated with the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) has been placed on standby after being caught posting messages on Twitter expressing explicitly anti-Korean sentiments and denouncing lawmakers from Japan’s political opposition to the ruling party.
The Japan Pension Service (Nenkin), which administers public pensions in Japan, placed Yukihisa Kasai, the director of Tokyo’s Setagaya district, on standby with the headquarters’ personnel department on Mar. 25 after he was found to have posted Twitter messages overtly disparaging Koreans.
While concealing his own position and name, Kasai posted numerous tweets about Koreans, whom he described as a “craven people with a vassal state disposition” and “superlative at ignorance and breaking off relations.”
“Since they received an anti-Japanese education, they presumably have no need to ever come to Japan,” he wrote in one message.
“The Zainichis [ethnic Koreans in Japan] should be swept up at once. Deny new entries,” he wrote in another.
“Don’t come to Japan anymore. It’s directly tied to worsening security conditions,” read a third.
Kasai also directed denunciations against opposition lawmakers and progressive intellectuals at home, whom he accused of “selling out their country” and described as “blackmailers who earn money just for existing.”
Kasai’s identity was discovered as a result of messages he had previously posted on Twitter, the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper reported.
On Mar. 24, he deleted his previous messages and posted a new opinion in which he expressed his “apologies to all people who were hurt by these personal remarks.” Nenkin announced that it would take measures after determining the facts of the case.
A department director at MHLW recently caused a stir when seen behaving in a drunk and disorderly manner at Gimpo International Airport and declaring “I hate Koreans.”
By Cho Ki-weon, Tokyo correspondent
Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
