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22 banned from re-entering Japan including missile engine expert: media

Xinhua, March 20, 2016 Adjust font size:

Japan has banned 22 people from re-entering Japan after visiting the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), local media reported on Sunday.

The banning came following Japan, South Korea, the United States and the United Nations Security Council approving tougher sanctions on the DPRK for conducting a fourth nuclear test in January and a long-range rocket launch last month.

Local media reported that those on the banning list include a rocket engine expert, who holds a doctorate degree from the prestigious University of Tokyo and is an expert in developing missile engines, allegedly having connections to the DPRK.

Quoting a Japanese government source, the Kyodo News Agency reported that others on the banning list include officials from the the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, known here as Chongryon, as well as others connected to an association of Korean scientists and engineers who are registered as living in Japan.

Kyodo reported that one of the association's members is a researcher at the atomic energy research institute of a state university.

While it is known that the university is located in western Japan, the institution has not been named.

In May last year, Japanese police arrested the son of the head of Chongryon and two other men on allegations of illegally importing 1,800 km of "matsutake" mushrooms from the DPRK in 2010.

The arrests followed two South Korean men being arrested in March on suspicion of also being involved in the illegal importing of matsutake mushrooms from the DPRK, believed to be worth 4.5 million yen (40,338 U.S. dollars).

Investigations turned up evidence that Pyongyang had been trying to source "advance technologies" through Koreans living in Japan, although the nature of the technology, such as whether it was connected to ballistic or atomic technology, was not specified.

The Chongryon association itself is registered as an NGO here and is headquartered in Tokyo's Chiyoda ward, and is one of two organizations supporting long-term residents of Korean descent living in Japan and has close ties to the DPRK, acting as a de facto embassy of sorts, in lieu of no formal diplomatic ties existing between Tokyo and Pyongyang. Enditem