Japan Anti-North Sentiment Cooling

Mangyongbong, the only passenger boat that sails between North Korea and Japan, is at an anchor at the central quay of West Port in Niigata city. This port is about 4km away from the seashore where Yokota Megumi, a junior school student, was kidnapped by North Korean agents in 1977.

At 8:00 a.m. on May 31, three buses with students of Chongryon School, a school under Joseon Chongryon (North Korean Residents Union in Japan), aboard arrived at the central quay. These students are on a school excursion to North Korea.

Students went though harsh exit and entry procedures and customs inspections for more than an hour and got on board.

Among the 161 passengers were civilians who were visiting their relatives in North Korea, but with about two-thirds of the whole passengers being students, the Mangyongbong, 9,700 tons heavy, looked like an exclusive boat for a school excursion.

There were about 30 policemen and port officers at the dock on alert, but the air was without much tension.

The Mangyongbong sailed off directed to the East Sea at 10 o’clock in the morning, with guardships from Japan Coast Guard and Niigata Province Police Bureau whirling about.

About 20 members of an organization related to the kidnapping of some Japanese, who were at the dock crying out slogans such as “Go back, Mangyongbong!” when the boat entered port the previous day, May 30, could not be seen either.

The scene seemed quite different from 2003 when anti North Korean sentiment was at its peak, Kim Jong Il, the Chairman of the National Defense Commission of the Democratic People`s Republic of Korea, admitted in September 2002 that North Korea had kidnapped a number of Japanese citizens.

An officer related to the Port Office said, “At that time, about 100 street ad cars would rush in from all over the country and make such noise with their speakers, but these days only four or five appear.” He added that the number of people who participate in the protests decreased a lot.

The Japanese government has been giving blows to the Mangyongbong, holding mass security inspections with 2,000 mobilized public servants including policemen in August 2003. But recently the government has been quiet, perhaps out of concluding that the efficacy of such searches has died out.

The Japanese government has been warning North Korea that it might choose to halt the service of the Mangyongbong if the kidnap matter stays unsolved. But the actual movement to stop the service is unseen.

Nevertheless, striking the Mangyongbong has not gone without any efficacy.

The number of passengers per year in 2003 fell to 3,133 from 8,501 in 2002, and stays low. The volume of freight traffic also fell significantly.

A diplomatic source said, “The fall in the index of freight transport is greatly related to the weakening of the organizing ability of Joseon Chongryon and its loss of members as a result of the damaged public opinion because of the kidnap matter.” The source added that such trend is not likely to be averted for a while.

Kwang-Am Cheon iam@donga.com