Defectors Sue N. Korea's Kim Jong Un in Tokyo over Repatriations

In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends a ruling party congress in Pyongyang, North Korea Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends a ruling party congress in Pyongyang, North Korea Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
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Defectors Sue N. Korea's Kim Jong Un in Tokyo over Repatriations

In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends a ruling party congress in Pyongyang, North Korea Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends a ruling party congress in Pyongyang, North Korea Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

North Korean defectors in Tokyo symbolically summoned Kim Jong Un to court on Thursday over a repatriation program they describe as "state kidnapping".

The unusual case is a bid to hold Pyongyang responsible for a scheme that saw more than 90,000 people move to North Korea from Japan between 1959 and 1984, reported AFP.

The program mainly targeted ethnic Koreans but also their Japanese spouses, lured by fantastical propaganda promising a "paradise on Earth".

Five participants in the repatriation scheme who later escaped from North Korea are demanding 100 million yen ($880,000) each in damages as they make their case in the Tokyo District Court.

They have accused Pyongyang of "deceiving plaintiffs by false advertising to relocate to North Korea", where "the enjoyment of human rights was generally impossible".

As there are no diplomatic relations between Japan and North Korea, Kim has been summoned as the head of the North's government.

"We don't expect North Korea to accept a decision nor pay the damages," Kenji Fukuda, the plaintiffs' lawyer, said at a briefing last month.

"But we hope that the Japanese government would be able to negotiate with North Korea" if the court rules in the plaintiffs' favor, he added.

In all, 93,340 people took part in the repatriation program carried out by the Red Cross Societies in Japan and North Korea, and paid for by Pyongyang.

The Japanese government also backed the scheme, with media touting it as a humanitarian campaign for Koreans struggling to build a life in Japan.

During Tokyo's 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean peninsula, millions of Koreans moved to Japan, either voluntarily or against their will.

When Japan surrendered, hundreds of thousands remained, reluctant to return to their devastated homeland.

They were stripped of their Japanese nationality and became stateless, and many believed propaganda films portraying an idyllic life in North Korea.

Part of the defectors' complaint concerns separation from their families still trapped in the isolated country.

"I don't know what happened to my family. Maybe the coronavirus has hit them, maybe some of them have died of hunger," Eiko Kawasaki, one of the five plaintiffs, said last month.



US Ambassador Asks Israel to Investigate Death of US Citizen in West Bank

07 July 2025, US, Washington: US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee looks on as US President Donald Trump hosts a bilateral dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Blue Room of the White House. (Daniel Torok/White House/dpa)
07 July 2025, US, Washington: US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee looks on as US President Donald Trump hosts a bilateral dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Blue Room of the White House. (Daniel Torok/White House/dpa)
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US Ambassador Asks Israel to Investigate Death of US Citizen in West Bank

07 July 2025, US, Washington: US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee looks on as US President Donald Trump hosts a bilateral dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Blue Room of the White House. (Daniel Torok/White House/dpa)
07 July 2025, US, Washington: US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee looks on as US President Donald Trump hosts a bilateral dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Blue Room of the White House. (Daniel Torok/White House/dpa)

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said on Tuesday he has asked Israel to "aggressively" investigate the death of an American citizen who was beaten to death in the West Bank.

"There must be accountability for this criminal and terrorist act. Saif was just 20 yrs old," Huckabee said in a post on X.

The Israeli embassy in Washington did not immediately provide comment. Israel's military previously said Israel was investigating the incident.

US citizen Sayafollah Musallet, 20, also known as Saif, was severely beaten in the incident on Friday evening in Sinjil, north of Ramallah, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

His family, from Tampa, Florida, said in a statement that medics tried to reach him for three hours before his brother managed to carry him to an ambulance, but that he died before reaching the hospital.

"We must honor his memory by speaking out against violence and working toward a future of peace and dignity," US Representative Kathy Castor, who represents Tampa, said in a post on X. "The Administration must work with our international partners to ensure the protection of Americans abroad."

Some members of the US House of Representatives have condemned the killing of Musallet, and others have called on the US State Department to investigate the incident.

The department did not immediately respond to those calls.

Settler violence in the West Bank has risen since the start of Israel's war against Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza in late 2023, according to rights groups.