The top leaders of the pro-Seoul and pro-Pyongyang groups of Korean residents in Japan met last week, ending almost 60 years of hostilities and marking the start of reconciliation. Mr. Ha Byeong Ok, president of pro-Seoul Mindan (Korean Residents Union in Japan) and Mr. So Man Sul, chairman of pro-Pyongyang Chongryun (General Association of Korean Residents in Japan) signed a joint statement in which the two groups agreed to firmly turn long-standing "antagonism and confrontation" into "reconciliation and concord."

The move clearly reflects the belated political effects of the June 15, 2000, summit in Pyongyang between then South Korean President Kim Dae Jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. Another factor apparently was the 2002 summit between North Korean leader Kim and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Mr. Kim's admission of, and apology for, the abduction of Japanese nationals by North Korean agents shocked Chongryun members. The bankruptcy of financial institutions affiliated with Chongryun also affected the group. As an organization, Chongryun has become weaker, with a membership of between 200,000 and 300,000 people. Thus it apparently felt the need to seek friendly relations with Mindan, which claims to have 550,000 members.

Societal factors affecting both groups also cannot be ignored. The number of third- and fourth-generation Koreans is increasing in Japanese society. These days about 90 percent of Korean residents born in Japan marry Japanese. About 10,000 Korean residents become naturalized Japanese every year. This leads to an annual decrease of 10,000 in the "Korean" population, now estimated at about 600,000. Paying attention to "serious phenomena that contribute to dilution or loss of ethnicity" among Koreans in Japan, the Mindan-Chongryun joint statement says the two groups will "make joint efforts to educate new generations and promote Koreans' ethnic culture in order to protect and promote our ethnicity."