Mindan

Organization for Koreans in Japan

Mindan (, Hanja: 民團), or the Korean Residents Union in Japan (, 在日本大韓民国民団), is one of two main organizations for Koreans living in Japan, the other being Chongryon. Mindan has ties to South Korea and was established in 1946 in Tokyo, Japan. Currently, among the 610,000 Korean residents in Japan who have not become naturalized Japanese citizens, 65% are members of Mindan, and another 25% are members of Chongryon. Mindan members prefer the modern South Korean term Kankoku (韓国) to be used when discussing Korea. Chongryon members, some of whom are North Korean fellow travellers, prefer the older term Chōsen (朝鮮). Because Chōsen was the term used during the Japanese rule of Korea and North Korea does not recognize Kankoku, this causes enmity between the groups.

Mindan was established in 1946 as the Zai Nihon Chōsen Kyoryū Mindan (在日本朝鮮居留民団). With the founding of the South Korea in 1948 the name Chōsen was dropped, and the organization was reincorporated as Zai Nihon Daikanminkoku Kyoryū Mindan (在日本大韓民国居留民団). The Korean War (1950–1953) brought about a sharp division between members of Chongryon and Mindan, with each organization strongly supporting the North or South respectively. Mindan members went to Korea as volunteer soldiers in the conflict. Posters made by Mindan during this time period display Mindan’s close ties to Zainichi Koreans’ native soil with patriotic and militaristic undertones reminiscent of South Korea’s military dictatorship at the time. As a new generation of Zainichi Koreans emerged in the 1970s whose primary language was Japanese instead of Korean, Mindan posters developed during this time saw an increase of Japanese text being used over Hangul. However, Mindan steered away from advocating full assimilation into Japanese society, instead promoting their minority status among members through emphasizing introspection. During the 2000s, Mindan experienced a progressive movement, influenced by South Korea’s left leaning president at the time: Kim Dae jung. In 2006, one faction of Mindan announced an amelioration of relations with Chongryon, which sparked backlash among the more traditional right leaning core of Mindan. A few weeks after the declaration, the faction initially issuing the announcement retracted their proclamation. In recent times, Mindan has lost members as a result of Japanese naturalization among Zainichi Koreans. It has also been occasionally threatened by extreme right wing organizations; in one incident in 2010, the Kyoto branch of Mindan cancelled a lecture due to the threat of Zaitokutai protesters interfering with the event. Regardless, today, it still holds the status of Japan's largest Zainichi organization. The organization tabulates its total number of members using South Korean nationality as a metric. The organization publishes its own newspaper called the Mindan Shinbun.