DPRK donates funds for Japan disaster relief

Chongryon headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan

KCNA reported that the North Korean Red Cross sent $100,000 to its counterpart in Japan, expressing “deep sympathy” for victims of the disaster.

In a separate transaction, Kim Jong-Il sent $500,000 to Chongryon, the pro-Pyongyang Koreans living in Japan.

The DPRK has no diplomatic relations with Japan. In fact, the relationship between the two nations has never fully recovered from disputes over the North’s kidnapping of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s.