A real estate firm that recently acquired the building housing the Tokyo headquarters of North Korea-affiliated group Chongryon has signed a deal to sell the property for ¥4.4 billion, informed sources said Thursday.
The building's new owner, a Yamagata-based real estate company, is expected to lease the property to Chongryon, otherwise known as the General Association of Korean Residents, allowing the group to continue to use the building that has served as North Korea's de facto embassy in Japan in the absence of diplomatic ties between the two countries.
The latest development came after Kagawa Prefecture-based Marunaka Holdings Co. became the successful bidder for the building and land last March, through an auction that irked North Korea.