The statement said:

There is in Japan Chongryon which plays the role of a diplomatic mission of the DPRK.

Chongryon has been constantly persecuted and suppressed by the Japanese authorities.

Recently they worked hard to seize the Central Hall of Chongryon, the base of its activities.

This time they conducted illegal and unprecedented search for the houses of officials of Chongryon on the sheer conspiratorial pretext that it is linked with the violation of the "foreign exchange law".

This proves that Japan is not opting for improving relations with the DPRK but taking a quite different road.

What the Japanese authorities are doing is a harmful act of bedeviling the relations with the DPRK and disturbing the security in the Asia-Pacific region and the global peace.

We vehemently denounce the Japanese authorities' suppression of Chongryon.