Representatives of a Korean school in Aichi Prefecture and Japanese citizens conveyed a signature paper endorsed by more than 19,300 people to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan on August 24, demanding the prompt application of the tuition-free program to Korean schools.

Earlier on August 10, Korean and Japanese poets visited the ministry to urge the Japanese government to come out for a solution to the issue of assisting Korean schools.

They pointed out that the most vicious one of the crimes committed by Japan during its colonial rule over Korea was the policy of throttling Korean and enforcing use of Japanese.

It is quite natural for the descendants of those who were forcibly taken to Japan, to learn their native language, they said, stating that it is unreasonable to exclude only the students of Korean schools from the tuition-free program.

They demanded that the Japanese government pay aid funds to Korean schools without discrimination.