So Man-sul (; 17 April 1927 – 19 February 2012) was the chairman of the Central Standing Committee of the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (
Chongryon
The General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, " ''
), as well as a member of
Supreme People's Assembly
The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA; ) is the unicameral legislature of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), commonly known as North Korea. It consists of one deputy from each of the DPRK's 687 constituencies, elected to five-year ...
of the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and ...
(North Korea).
In May 2006, he met his counterpart of the pro-Seoul Korean association
Mindan
Mindan ( ko, 민단), or the Korean Residents Union in Japan (), is one of two main organizations for Koreans living in Japan, the other being Chongryon. Mindan has ties to South Korea and was established in 1946 in Tokyo, Japan. Currently, amo ...
, Ha Byung-ok. According to a joint statement signed on 17 May 2006, "Chongryon and Mindan affirmed each other that they would surely convert the long-standing antagonism and confrontation between the two organizations into reconciliation and concord in conformity with the trend of national history advancing toward national unity and reunification in the idea of 'By our nation itself', the main spirit of the 15 June joint declaration".
However, Mindan's regional chapters strongly opposed the statement, and Ha Byung-ok was expelled from Mindan for attempting reconciliation with Chongryon. The new Mindan leadership criticises the declaration as a North Korean scheme to use Mindan for its
reunification
A political union is a type of political entity which is composed of, or created from, smaller polities, or the process which achieves this. These smaller polities are usually called federated states and federal territories in a federal governmen ...
purposes, and in November 2006 published an article citing its reasoning behind opposing the joint statement, which it called "against humanity and human rights". Pro-Chongryon media blamed this on "pressure from the
Japanese government
The Government of Japan consists of legislative, executive and judiciary branches and is based on popular sovereignty. The Government runs under the framework established by the Constitution of Japan, adopted in 1947. It is a unitary state, c ...
",
On 30 October 2006, he met in
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
with Paek Rak-chong, chairman of the South Side's Committee for Implementing the 15 June Joint Declaration (see
Reunification of Korea
Korean reunification () is the potential reunification of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea into a single Korean sovereign state. The process towards reunification was started by the June 15th North–South Joi ...
).
In April 2007,
Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department
The serves as the prefectural police department of Tokyo Metropolis. Founded in 1874, it is headed by a Superintendent-General, who is appointed by the National Public Safety Commission, and approved by the Prime Minister.
The Tokyo Metro ...
requested So and two other Chongryon officials to voluntarily attend the police station to give statements in connection with a 1970s abduction of a Japanese toddler by North Korean agents. Chongryon issued a public statement rejecting the request.
Death
On 19 February 2012, he died of heart failure at his home in Tokyo's Edogawa ward, at the apparent age of 84. A funeral service was held in Tokyo's Korean Hall in the presence of funeral committee chairman
Ho Jong-man
Ho (or the transliterations He or Heo) may refer to:
People Language and ethnicity
* Ho people, an ethnic group of India
** Ho language, a tribal language in India
* Hani people
The Hani or Ho people (Hani: ''Haqniq''; zh, c=哈尼族, p ...