The government will urge municipalities that provide tax breaks for pro-North Korean group facilities to consider whether such preferential treatment is appropriate, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said Friday.
The government's chief spokesman made the remark after the Fukuoka High Court on Thursday nullified the Kumamoto Municipal Government's preferential tax treatment for a hall affiliated with the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryun). The court said in reversing a lower court ruling that the group's activities do not benefit the general public.
The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry will consider issuing a reminder to local governments that they should treat such facilities from the viewpoint of how they serve the public interest and how they are used, Abe said.
A number of local governments have exempted or reduced taxes for Chongryun's properties. Chongryun offers public services to Korean residents in Japan and serves as a de facto diplomatic mission in the absence of bilateral diplomatic ties.
But some localities have reversed their policies and started imposing full taxes on the properties, particularly after North Korea admitted in September 2002 that its agents abducted 13 Japanese in the 1970s and 1980s.