A summary of a Japanese on line newspaper report-Sankei News:
A South Korean propaganda organization named "民族２１=Nation21" into which the South Korean authority conducted compulsory investigation for charge of carrying out espionage has been found involved in an operation of securing allocation of the Japanese Government fund to support North Korean schools in Japan under "Act on free tuition fee at public high schools and high school enrollment support fund" passed on March 31 and enacted on April 1, 2010. See note 1 and 2 below.
Whether Japan should support North Korean high schools in Japan under the newly introduced scheme or not has been very controversial, sparking fierce arguments among intellectuals, media, etc. The Government of Japan has suspended its administrative process of providing financial support to the schools due to the North Korea's artillery attack on the disputed island of Yeonpyeongdo, South Korea on November 23, 2010.
Doubts have emerged over whether South Korean propaganda organization "民族２１=Nation21" has instigated the general public to support the earlier allocation of government fund to North Korean schools as the investigation reveals that Nation21 has contacted The General Association of North Korean Citizens in Japan (Chae Ilbon Chosŏnin Ch'ongryŏnhaphoe in Korean or Zai-Nihon Chōsenjin Sōrengōkai in Japanese) .
Nation21 has repeatedly expressed pro-North Korea opinions by publishing interviews with those related to The General Association of North Korean Citizens in Japan, so as to arouse sympathetic opinions (meaning that South Koreans become critical of Japan) among the general public in South Korea and subsequently to realize the earlier allocation of the Government fund to North Korean schools in Japan. Nation21 publishes its monthly magazine by shedding light on the activities being carried out by young North Korean citizens living in Japan, so as to make young South Koreans in South Korea feel comfortable about North Koreans.
Note: 1.The act makes tuition free at public high schools and establishes the high school enrollment support fund system for tuition payment for private high school students, etc. The act is to ease financial burdens of educational costs on families, thereby contributing to promotion of equal opportunity in high schools.
2. 民族２１=Nation21 is a monthly magazine specialized in unification of North and South Koreas first published on March 2001 and well-entrenched in young South Koreans in South Korea as it deals with the activities carried out by young North Korean citizens living in Japan.
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