総連本部売却 居座りはこれ以上許されない

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Chongryon must observe ruling of top court, vacate headquarters
総連本部売却　居座りはこれ以上許されない

The judicial branch of the government has made a final judgment. The General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon) cannot stay any longer at its current headquarters.
　司法としての最終判断である。これ以上の居座りは許されまい。

The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed Chongryon’s appeal against a court-led auction of its headquarters building and associated land in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo. The ruling confirmed the sale of the property to Marunaka Holdings Co., a real estate firm in Takamatsu that won the auction.
　東京都千代田区の在日本朝鮮人総連合会中央本部の土地・建物の競売を巡り、最高裁が朝鮮総連の抗告を棄却した。落札した高松市の不動産関連会社「マルナカホールディングス」への売却が確定した。

The top court ruled that the decision to sell the property to Marunaka is reasonable because it will bring about the sale through fair and speedy procedures.
　最高裁はマルナカ社への売却決定について、「公正かつ迅速な手続きによる売却を実現するもので、合理的だ」と結論付けた。

Once payment is made, Marunaka will take ownership of the property. The organization — which represents pro-Pyongyang Korean residents in this nation — will be urged to leave the building and land that constitute its current headquarters, which have been seen as North Korea’s de facto embassy in Japan.
　マルナカ社は、代金を納めれば、所有権を得る。総連は、北朝鮮の日本における大使館的な役割を担ってきた本部ビルからの退去を迫られる見通しだ。

An agent of Chongryon said that the top court’s ruling was “highly regrettable.”
総連の代理人は「大変遺憾」と語っている。

Now that the Supreme Court has recognized that the auction was legitimate, however, Chongryon must respond accordingly if Marunaka requests that the organization vacate the building and land.
　だが、最高裁が正当な競売だと認定した以上、マルナカ社が明け渡しを求めれば、総連はそれに応じなければならない。

Chongryon’s headquarters was brought to the block by the successive collapse since 1997 of credit unions affiliated with pro-Pyongyang Korean residents in Japan. A major factor in their bankruptcies was the huge loans they extended to Chongryon, which became unrecoverable.
　在日朝鮮人系の信用組合が１９９７年以降、相次いで破綻したことが、本部ビルが競売にかけられた発端だ。各信組から総連に向けた多額の融資の焦げ付きが、破綻の大きな要因だった。

Recovery of public funds

The government injected over ¥1 trillion in public funds to resolve the problem. The Resolution and Collection Corporation, which absorbed the bad loans, arranged to auction the property, which occupies a prime location in central Tokyo. We think this was a reasonable course of action by the government-affiliated body in executing its duty to recover the public money.
　政府は、破綻処理に１兆円超の公的資金を投入した。不良債権を引き継いだ整理回収機構が、都心の一等地にある本部ビルを競売にかけたのは、公的資金の回収という使命を遂行する上で、当然の措置だったと言える。

A religious organization won the first auction in March last year, but it later abandoned the purchase because it could not raise enough money. The second auction, held in October last year, was won by a Mongolian firm that placed the highest bid, but the firm was later disqualified because it failed to submit the necessary documents.
　昨年３月の１回目の入札で落札した宗教法人は、代金を調達できずに取得を断念した。昨年１０月に行われた再入札では、モンゴル企業が最高値を提示したが、書類不備で失格とされた。

The Tokyo District Court then decided the headquarters should be sold to Marunaka, the second-highest bidder in the second auction. The Tokyo High Court also supported the decision. Dissatisfied with this, however, Chongryon appealed to the Supreme Court. Its protest was apparently a strategy to delay vacating the premises for as long as possible.
　東京地裁は、次点のマルナカ社への売却許可を決定し、東京高裁も支持した。これを不服として、総連が特別抗告していた。総連側の抵抗は、明け渡しを引き延ばすための戦術だったのだろう。

According to the Public Security Intelligence Agency, Chongryon was given a strict order from the North Korean government to defend the headquarters at all costs.
　公安調査庁によると、総連は中央本部の土地・建物の「死守」を本国から厳命されていた。

In talks held recently between Tokyo and Pyongyang on the reinvestigation into Japanese nationals abducted or believed to have been abducted by North Korean agents, the North Korean representatives expressed concerns over the auction of the headquarters. With the start of the reinvestigation, the Japanese government lifted restrictions on the transit of individuals between Japan and North Korea, which allowed a Chongryon leader to visit North Korea in September.
　拉致被害者らの再調査に関する日朝政府間協議では、北朝鮮側が本部ビルの競売問題に懸念を表明していた。再調査の実施に伴い、日本政府が北朝鮮に対する人的往来の規制措置を解除したため、総連トップが９月に訪朝した。

The reinvestigation of Japanese abductees will soon enter a critical stage. The progress of Japan-North Korea talks must not be affected by the Supreme Court ruling.
　拉致被害者らの再調査は今後、ヤマ場を迎える。最高裁の決定が、日朝協議の進展に影響を及ぼすことがあってはならない。

“We clearly told [North Korea] that the [Japanese] government cannot do anything about an issue already subject to legal procedures,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said.
　菅官房長官は「法的手続きに入ったものについて、政府は何もできないと（北朝鮮に）明言している」と語った。

We think the government should state this position repeatedly to North Korea.
こうした立場を繰り返し説明していくべきだ。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Nov. 6, 2014)Speech