Discussed at the council were issues of coping with the hostile forces' moves and waging in an organized way various forms of protest against the Japanese authorities' wrong behavior, pursuant to the DPRK's principled stand clarified in the recent statements of a Foreign Ministry spokesman and the Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee.

The Chongryon Cenral Standing Committee held a press conference at the Korean Hall in Tokyo on the same day.

Nam Sung U, vice-chairman of the Committee, made public a statement at the conference.

The statement rejected the Japanese reactionaries' decision as a barbarous act to step up the political crackdown on Chongryon and as an unpardonable act to ruthlessly violate the genuine rights of Korean residents in Japan in active pursuance of the "sanctions resolution" of the UNSC backed by the U.S.

It strongly urged the present Abe regime to lift the sanctions on the DPRK without any condition and promptly stop the political crackdown on Chongryon, unreasonable discrimination against national education and violation of Japan-resident Koreans' rights.