The General Association of Korean Residents, a pro-Pyongyang group known as Chongryon, has agreed to pay over ¥200 million ($1.6 million) a year to rent its headquarters building in Tokyo from a real estate firm, sources said.
The firm based in Yamagata Prefecture bought the property for ¥4.4 billion in January from Marunaka Holdings Co., which acquired it for ¥2.21 billion through an auction last year.
The Chongryon headquarters building has served as North Korean's de facto embassy in Japan in the absence of diplomatic relations between Japan and North Korea.
Whether the group would lose the building has been a matter of debate since the property was brought to auction in 2012 to raise funds to help it repay debt.
The latest agreement will enable Chongryon to use the headquarters building as long as it pays the rent.
The association declined comment on the matter.
The sources also said Tuesday the group sold another property in Tokyo to an Osaka-based real estate company for ¥1.7 billion in January. The asset sale is expected to help it pay the rent.