Police searched an office building Sunday in Hokkaido belonging to the pro-Pyongyang group Chongryon on suspicion that its affiliate companies swindled the government out of subsidies given to businesses for hiring unemployed job seekers.
Investigators said several companies in Sapporo with links to Chongryon, or the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, are accused of misleading officials in order to collect subsidies by claiming they had hired staff from a school in the city for ethnic Koreans that had allegedly lost their jobs. Those hired were not unemployed, authorities said.
About 30 investigators scuffled with workers at the school when they also raided a primary and secondary education facility around 8 a.m.
A 48-year-old man associated with Chongryon who was angered over the police presence said the group's office was searched despite having nothing to do with the alleged fraud committed by individuals.
Chongryon has effectively functioned as North Korea's embassy for decades in the absence of diplomatic relations between Tokyo and Pyongyang.