A group of escapees from North Korea announced Wednesday they have formed an association to help support them in Japan.
The Society of Escapees from North Korea in Japan consists mostly of North Korean-born children of former Korean residents of Japan who secretly escaped from the North in recent years.
Speaking at a news conference in Tokyo, Kenki Aoyama, a 63-year old Osaka-born ethnic Korean, said that 18 of nearly 50 ethnic Koreans, their Japanese wives and their children who recently escaped from the poverty stricken state have joined the association.