Update: Also see Joshua’s post on this.

Original post: Japan continues to keep pressure on North Korea in yet another move that will stifle the flow of currency and goods from Japan to North Korea. The Chosun Soren clearly brought this upon themselves:

The de facto embassy of North Korea in Japan may lose its headquarters after a Tokyo court ordered it to pay 62.7 billion yen ($508 million) to a government-run bad loan agency to cover unpaid debt.

The Tokyo District Court today ruled the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan must repay the government-run Resolution and Collection Corp., which took over non-performing loans advanced by credit companies associated with the pro-Pyongyang group. The court ruled the RCC can seize the group’s headquarters in central Tokyo in lieu of payment.

“This is clearly a huge blow for the organization,” Motoi Tamaki, chief director at Tokyo’s Modern Korea Institute, said. “The group is one step away from complete dissolution.”

The association represents about 50,000 North Koreans who live in Japan and acts as a representative for North Korea, which has no formal ties with the Japanese government. The group has channeled funds to the reclusive regime in North Korea, according to members.

[. . .]

Chongryon made headlines last week when it emerged that a former head of Japan’s domestic spy agency signed a contract to buy the group’s headquarters in central Tokyo. The deal collapsed because of the RCC legal action and because the former official, Shigetake Ogata, wasn’t able to raise the funds.

[. . .]

Chongryon, founded in 1947, was set up to represent the interests of North Koreans resident in Japan and many of them donated money and goods to the organization and schools run by the group.

Some of the funds were funneled to the Stalinist regime in North Korea, which regularly criticizes Japan.

“I realized that Chosensoren was just a slave of Pyongyang and they didn’t help us at all,” Kim Jong Il who changed his citizenship to the South 10 years ago said. Kim is no relation to the North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. “They spied on us and took our money to support Pyongyang. We observe this court ruling with disgust.”