Sankei Shimbun claimed that the application of the above-said program to the Korean schools means "providing Japan's public funds to the schools under the DPRK's system" while Yomiuri Shimbun complained that "the Korean schools have strong ties with Chongryon," asserting that "the funds to be given to those schools under that program should not be illegally remitted to the DPRK".

As already known, the Korean schools in different parts of Japan have enrolled all the children of Koreans in Japan to help them grow to be persons of intellect having national consciousness and qualifications required by a modern society and strictly observed the same laws and regulations regarding the contents of education and operation of schools as other foreign schools have done.

The Koreans in Japan have the same obligation to pay taxes as the Japanese people do. Therefore, it is quite clear that the Japanese authorities should naturally give a share of them to the national education of Koreans in Japan.

The Japan Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology might have worked out a budget on the premises that the tuition-free program is applied to the Korean schools as is the case with Japanese senior high schools and other foreign schools.

But the application of the above-said program to Korean schools expected to take effect from April was put on hold due to the opposition from the anti-DPRK conservative forces. Prompted by the stand that the application of this program should be considered in the light of "a mere education system," the ministry has set about finally settling the issue in the direction of lifting the measure for excluding the Korean schools from the program.

It is precisely against this backdrop that the Japanese conservative media are getting vociferous in their smear campaign against the measure. This is naturally sparking off criticism from the international public as it is nothing but reckless acts on the part of the reactionary reptile media keen on the smear campaign against the DPRK and Chongryon.

It is a shame on the media that they are cooperating with the ultra-right conservative forces even in the matter of educating youngsters, departing from their mission to lead social development and civilization.

Looking back on history, Sankei Shimbun and other conservative media of Japan have done every conceivable wrong, taking the lead in the Japanese reactionaries' anti-DPRK propaganda as pseudo media subservient to power.

Lurking behind this behavior is the sinister intention of the reactionary reptile newspapers steeped in bitterness towards the DPRK and national chauvinism.

The Korean students in Japan are the descendants of the Koreans who were forcibly taken to Japan by the Japanese imperialists in the past and the Korean schools where they study are the legitimate institutions for national education operating with the permission of the Japanese government. Japan is under the obligation to legally and morally respect and ensure the right of the Korean students to national education in the light of the crimes the Japanese imperialists committed in the past and from an educational point of view.

The issue of including Korean schools in the above-said program should not be regarded as a simple financial issue of giving a petty amount of money to them or not.

It is a matter related to the viewpoint and stand of Japan toward the overseas citizens of a sovereign state and reflects part of the present Japanese authorities' hostile policy toward the DPRK.

The Japanese conservative media's reckless diatribe oblivious of this suggests that they are disqualified to steer the times.