Chongryun has recently come under the spotlight in connection with an aborted sale of its Tokyo headquarters — North Korea's de facto embassy in Japan — to an investment advisory firm led by former Public Security and Intelligence Agency chief Shigetake Ogata.
Ogata was arrested June 28 for allegedly defrauding the pro-Pyongyang group out of its property rights by taking advantage of the besieged group. It was trying to prevent the seizure of its headquarters by the government-backed debt collector Resolution and Collection Corp., to which it owes 62.7 billion yen.
Also known as the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, Chongryun has also courted controversy with its close ties with North Korea and alleged involvement in the abductions of Japanese to the North in the 1970s and 1980s.
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