Members of civic groups denounce the Japanese government for confiscating souvenirs of ethnic Korean students in Japan after their school trip to North Korea, during a protest near the Embassy of Japan in Seoul, Tuesday. / Courtesy of Mongdang

By Park Ji-won

North Korean media criticized Japan, Thursday, for confiscating personal belongings of Korean students in Japan after they came back from a trip to North Korea, saying it was a violation of human rights.

An editorial in the Rodong Simun titled "We will not forgive inhumane behavior" said that Japan was violating the human rights of ethnic Koreans in the country.

The customs office at Kansai Airport searched bags of the students of a pro-North Korean school in Kobe, June 28, when they returned from a school trip to North Korea, according to a July 3 report by the Choson Sinbo, a newspaper published by the General Association of Korean Residents, or Chongryon, a pro-North Korean organization in Japan.

After the search which lasted over an hour, customs officers confiscated some of their personal belongings such as presents from their relatives in the North and clothes printed with phrases in Hangeul or North Korean flags.

The official newspaper of the North's ruling Workers' Party said, "We will not remain silent over the barbaric crimes of reactionary Japan and repay them more than a thousand times."

The Korean Central News Agency also commented in its news Wednesday saying "Japan pretends to be a pro-human rights country in international society. It calls for conversation outwardly, but claims sanctions and pressure behind. Those are the evil, inhumane behaviors of ethnic discrimination."

Earlier, Chongryon held a press conference in Tokyo on June 29 to make public the Japanese government's confiscation. Some South Korean civic organizations, including Mongdang which supports schools for ethnic Koreans in Japan, also held a press conference on July 3 to criticize the Japanese government for its discrimination against ethnic Koreans there.