In a January 26 ruling, a Japanese district court held the North Korean government liable for grave human rights violations against Koreans and Japanese citizens lured to North Korea through its “Paradise on Earth” campaign, ordering it to pay 22 million yen (US$1.42 million) to each plaintiff. Eiko Kawasaki, now 83, and three others filed the lawsuit in 2018, saying that they were deceived into going to North Korea, where they endured lives of extreme hardship.
Between 1959 and 1984, approximately 93,000 Zainichi Koreans—ethnic Koreans in Japan—and Japanese citizens migrated to North Korea under this program. The North Korean government, mostly through Chongryon, a pro-Pyongyang organization based in Japan, enticed them with claims that North Korea was a “paradise on earth,” guaranteeing housing, food, education, and employment.
Survivors have testified that North Korean authorities swiftly exerted total control over every aspect of their lives, restricting speech, residence, study, and work, rationing food, and censoring contact with families in Japan.
Those suspected of disloyalty faced severe punishment, including imprisonment with forced labor or as political prisoners, enforced disappearances, even death. Eiko, who arrived in North Korea at age 17 in 1960 remained trapped for 43 years before escaping in 2003.
In 2022, a Tokyo district court initially rejected the plaintiffs’ claims, citing a lack of jurisdiction over North Korea and the expiration of the statute of limitations. On appeal, however, the high court ruled in 2023 that Japanese courts did have jurisdiction and that the North Korean government violated the plaintiffs’ fundamental rights. The case was returned to the Tokyo district court to review the extent of damages that the North Korean government owes the plaintiffs, although enforcing payment will be challenging. The North Korean government did not participate in the proceedings.
North Korea remains one of the world’s most repressive states. A 2014 United Nations Commission of Inquiry found that its government has committed crimes against humanity through systematic abuses. The Japanese government should build on this ruling to press Pyongyang to allow remaining “Paradise on Earth” victims and their families to resettle in Japan and to hold North Korean officials accountable for their crimes.
