Taking part in the action were Korean residents in Japan, including students and teachers of Korean University and Tokyo Korean Middle and High School and parents of students, and Japanese citizens.

The Japanese reactionaries, keen on the hostile policy toward the DPRK, have completely excluded only Korean schools from the tuition-free program for senior high schools since 2010.

Koreans in Japan have staged protest actions against the Japanese authorities' such unreasonable discrimination.

The participants in the 500th protest action, held that day, condemned the Japanese authorities' persistent discrimination against Koreans that has been prolonged up to now, 100 years since the Japanese imperialists' massacre of Koreans in the Kanto area, 75 years since the start of the April 24 education struggle by Koreans in Japan and 13 years since Japan's discrimination against the Korean schools, and demanded the provision of national education.

They expressed their will to hand over the national education to the rising generations, which gives the vital power to them and instills the pride and self-esteem of being Koreans even under the Japanese authorities' discrimination.

The Japanese government's discrimination policy of attacking children is intolerable, they said, calling for continuing to struggle until the rights of students to learn are provided without discrimination.

They charged that the root of discrimination against Koreans lies in the fact that Japan's colonial rule over Korea has not yet been settled, and shouted such slogans as "Stop unjust discrimination against Korean schools!" and "Apply the tuition-free program to the students of Korean schools!"

Earlier, the participants in the protest action conducted an activity for making a demand upon the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.

They sent a written request to the Cabinet Office and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan, strongly urging the Japanese authorities to immediately stop discrimination against the students of Korean schools.