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http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-b...0100310f1.html

Kids at pro-North high schools fret tuition waiver snub

Institutions risk being hostage to row over Pyongyang's abductions

By JUN HONGO
Staff writer

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"The abduction issue has been certified by the Japanese government as an illegal act conducted by North Korea," Hashimoto said earlier this month. If pro-Pyongyang schools have strong ties with the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon), which acts as North Korea's unofficial embassy, tax money should not be provided to them, Hashimoto has said.

Nakai and Hashimoto's views are widely shared by rightwing groups, which criticize chosen gakko for their links with the North. Although he denies any connection between the tuition waivers and the abduction issue, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama acknowledged that the curriculum at pro-Pyongyang schools may raise questions about their eligibility.

Under the bill, which is expected to clear the Diet by the end of March, in time for the start of the new school year in April, subsidies for schools will be provided only if they are deemed to provide education equivalent to Japanese high schools. Ministry directives are expected to determine their eligibility by comparing education at schools catering to foreign students with the curriculum in their home countries, as well as guidelines in Japan.

Some lawmakers in the ruling coalition say the education ministry cannot compare the curriculum at pro-Pyongyang schools with those of North Korea because Japan and the North don't have diplomatic relations.

But others, including Social Democratic Party head Mizuho Fukushima and Shizuka Kamei, leader of Kokumin Shinto (People's New Party), are opposed to excluding the schools, saying there is no need to discriminate against them.

Pro-Pyongyang schools have been operating in Japan since the 1950s, set up by Koreans who stayed in Japan after being conscripted by the military during the war, or who came here to work or were brought over for forced labor.

Korean students today are split between those affiliated with the North and those with South Korean nationality.

The pro-Pyongyang schools have long been criticized by the Japanese media for lauding North Korean leaders, including Kim Jong Il and his father, Kim Il Sung, and putting their pictures in classrooms.

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