The Public Security Investigation Agency has collected alien registration data on some 150 Korean residents of Kyoto and Osaka as part of an investigation based on the Subversive Activities Prevention Law, sources close to the case said Friday.
The move has enraged Korean groups in the two prefectures, who argue that the agency is violating their human rights by treating them like criminals.
According to the municipal offices of the two cities and sources related to the case, the Kyoto office of the government agency asked each ward office in Kyoto to submit copies of the Koreans' alien registration information from April. Complying with the request, ward offices presented copies of foreign registration records for 87 Korean residents whose whereabouts were confirmed.