hankyoreh

a Japanese activist who was recently refused entry to South Korean (courtesy of Takahasi)

By Heo Jae-hyun, staff reporter

A letter was sent to the Hankyoreh on September 9 by Takahasi Toshio, Secretary General of the Anti-US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma Group, who was refused entry by authorities at Incheon International Airport as he attempted to attend the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Jeju Island. Takahasi harshly criticized the Korean government by saying, “the refusal of entry is a violation of human rights and the Korean government should be ashamed of itself.

Takahashi left Osaka airport on the morning of Sept. 5 and arrived at Incheon International Airport at 2:45pm. The Secretary General had been invited by Rep. Jang Hana of the Democratic United Party and was to speak at one of the symposiums of the conference under the theme, "Environmental Problems of American Military Bases in North Asia."

However, as he presented his passport at the airport, the officer made a gesture of hesitation and had him escorted to the immigration office at the airport. There, his passport was confiscated and his fingerprints were taken. At around 3:25 an immigration officer notified him of the following, "You are denied entry to Korea. I do not know the reason why. I have been notified by the Ministry of Justice that you must return to your country this afternoon." Takahashi asked that the notification and the reason for the rejection be provided to him in written form but the officer responded that such a system did not exist in Korea. The Secretary General had to take the first plane out to Fukuoka.

Takahashi said that he had traveled to Korea "thirteen times and this is the first time that something like this has happened." He suspects that he has been rejected entry because he participated in February of this year in a protest with the people of Gangjeong Village against the construction of a naval base there. "I believe that the Korean government is afraid that the human rights violations in Gangjeong Village will be exposed internationally," said Takahashi.

Another Japanese national, Umisedo Yutaka, representative of Japanese Committee of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, was also refused entry with Takahashi. The Ministry of Justice commented that it "keeps a list of foreigners who could be dangerous to the security or go against national interest." The ministry failed to say how or on what grounds this list is compiled.

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]