List of Issues:

1. How does the Japanese government define "minorities" as it is used in Article 27 of the Covenant? Is it aware that the word "minorities" under this article is not limited to those who hold Japanese nationality?
   
   The Government Report on Article 27 of the Covenant, concerning minorities, refers to the Ainu people but entirely lacks reference to the Korean residents of Japan (200,000 of those who hold Japanese nationality and 660,000 of North/South Korean nationalities). Does this signify that the Japanese government does not recognize resident Koreans as being a minority? If so, please clarify the reasons for excluding them when defining minority.
   
   
2. Does the Japanese government plan to take measures to correct the current situation in which the entitlement of resident Koreans to higher education is extremely limited due to the fact that the national universities do not qualify those who graduated from ethnic Korean schools in Japan to sit for their entrance examinations? If so, please provide specific details of the plan.

Background:

1. In Japan there are about 660,000 Koreans with either North or South Korean nationality and 220,000 of those who changed their nationalities from North/South Korea to Japan. They have a common culture and language, and historically formed their own community, thus they fall under the category of a "minority" under Article 27 of the Covenant. In fact, the Committee made this a central issue in its comments of 1993 on the 3rd periodic report by the Japanese government: "The Committee notes with concern the exclusion of Koreans from the Government's concept of minorities. This is not justified by the Covenant, which does not limit the concept of minority to those who are nationals of the State concerned (paragraph 15)."
   
   However, as in previous reports, the Government Report lacks reference to measures taken by the government to protect the identity of resident Koreans.
   
   It reflects a lack of understanding on the part of the Japanese government regarding the identity of resident Koreans. In fact, in the course of their education or employment, there are many case in which Koreans are not able to identify themselves by their own ethnic names due to the social discrimination that exists against Koreans. Despite such facts, the Japanese government has not taken active measures to rectify discrimination in Japanese society.
   
   The JCLU hopes that the Committee strictly points out this lack of a fundamental understanding of the Covenant by the Japanese government.
   
   
2. The Lack of understanding by the Japanese government toward "ethnic education" and the subsequent disadvantages that children suffer must be specifically pointed out among various problems that resident Koreans face as a minority.
   
   Reportedly, 90% of the children of resident Koreans go to schools of national, public, or private establishment. No special consideration has been given to those children and the government holds that not doing so amounts to equal treatment. As social discrimination remains, merely going by their ethnic names is deemed courageous.
   
   Korean ethnic high schools are not deemed to be "regular schools" as defined under article 1 of the School Education Law; therefore graduation from such a school does not automatically qualify students for entrance examinations for university. Their opportunity for higher education is extremely limited, especially as the national universities have not qualified them for the entrance examination, following a directive by the Education Ministry.
   
   Fortunately in September 1998, the graduate school of University of Kyoto decided to accept, for the first time as a national university, a graduate from the ethnic Korean university. However, the government persists in their conventional position and criticizes the decision of University of Kyoto.
   
   Designation of a school by the Minister of Education, or recognition of each student by a university or college is the only recourse left for students graduating from non-"regular schools" in order to be qualified to take the entrance examination for university (Article 69, subparagraphs 3 and 6, Regulations to Implement the School Education Law). The Japanese government, however, has not designated ethnic schools. Consequently, ethnic school graduates have had no choice but to enter public or private universities that recognize them as possessing attainments equal to or higher than those of regular school graduates. Universities that open their doors to ethnic school graduates are said to be, at most, slightly more than half of all public and private universities.
   
   If a student graduates high school in the country of his/her nationality instead of an ethnic school in Japan, he/she will be deemed to be "one who has completed twelve years of school curriculum or a corresponding education (Article 69, subparagraph 1 of the Regulation)," and will be deemed to be qualified without question for university entrance examination as a student from abroad. As stated by To Guo Hoi, Principal of Yokohama Overseas Chinese School in his essay contributed to the Asahi Shimbun in April 1998, "national universities (and some public and private universities) accept students from abroad whose Japanese is not very strong, while shutting out ethnic school students who were born and raised in Japan and who have a greater command of Japanese."
   
   Treatment as mentioned above is not only a problem of ethnic discrimination, but also a violation of the linguistic and cultural identity that resident Koreans in Japan hold as a "minority."
   
   The Japanese government makes a parallel between ethnic schools for resident Koreans and international schools in general and states that there is no problem because standard schools are open to graduates from these schools. However, this logic is incorrect because resident Koreans have rights as a "minority." The Committee of the Child expressed its concern and suggestions in June, 1998, in its concluding observation on the first report by the Japanese government under the Convention of the Rights of the Child: "[t]he Committee is particularly concerned about inequality in accessing institutions of higher education affecting children of Korean origin (paragraph 13)"; and "[t]he Committee recommends that discriminatory treatment of minority children, including Koreans be fully investigated and eliminated whenever and wherever it occurs (paragraph 35)."
   
   Therefore, the Japanese government is requested to take corrective measures immediately. The JCLU hopes that the Committee gives its recommendations to the Japanese government in this regard.