Viktor Yegorov, chairman of the Karelia-DPRK Friendship Association of Russia, said:

Japan is a criminal state which inflicted upon the Korean nation untold misfortune and sufferings after its illegal occupation of Korea in the last century.

Recently it made an illegal decision on allowing the sale of the land and building of the Korean Hall of Chongryon, a center of activities of the Koreans in Japan, far from making an apology and reparation for its past crimes.

Such behavior is a wanton violation of the dignity and vital rights of Chongryon and the Koreans in Japan and a serious encroachment upon the sovereignty of the DPRK.

The Japanese government should stop at once the move to illegally seize the hall of Chongryon and provocations against the DPRK.

C. M. Kramarenko, chairman of the Korean War Veterans' Council of Russia, said:

The Japanese government revealed its criminal wicked design to intensify the crackdown upon Chongryon and Koreans in Japan through the illegal decision on allowing the sale of the Korean Hall.

The government should protect the rights and properties of the Koreans in Japan, victims of the forcible drafting committed by the Japanese imperialists in the past and their descendents.

We strongly accuse the Japanese government of its move to seize the hall.