The news of the Japanese police authorities' recent search of the houses of the chairman and a vice-chairman of the Chongryon Central Standing Committee without any legitimate procedure greatly shocked and angered the Koreans in the U.S., the letter said.

Chongryon is playing the role of the DPRK diplomatic mission in the absence of the diplomatic relations between the DPRK and Japan, it noted, and went on:

The Japanese authorities' human rights abuses against officials of Chongryon are further deteriorating the relations between the two countries.

Chongryon is the only organization speaking for and protecting the Koreans who were forcibly taken to Japan by the Japanese imperialists in the past, and their descendants. The Japanese authorities' search fully revealed the bitter hostility toward the Korean nation.

The letter demanded the Japanese prime minister personally make an apology for the illegal crackdown on Chongryon and take measures to prevent its recurrence.