KUMAMOTO (Kyodo) The Kumamoto Municipal Government appealed a high court decision Wednesday that declared illegal the city's reduction of property taxes on a building owned by a pro-North Korean organization, sending the case to the Supreme Court.
The Fukuoka High Court earlier this month ruled that the meeting hall owned by the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, or Chongryun, does not benefit the public and therefore should not be eligible for a reduction or exemption of fixed property tax and other local taxes, as are facilities that serve the public.
Kumamoto Mayor Seishi Koyama said the hall "is used by North Korean residents of Japan for seminars and exchanges, and other people are not barred from using it."
The high court decision overturning the Kumamoto District Court's ruling also ordered Koyama to personally pay the 305,300 yen in taxes because he was the official who granted the exemption.
Local members of the National Association for the Rescue of Japanese Kidnapped by North Korea filed the suit in January 2004, seeking payment of the back taxes owed and an end to preferential tax treatment for the facility given by the city.