Kim Jong-un sends educational aid to pro-Pyongyang ethnic Koreans in Japan
Published: 14 Apr. 2026, 10:05
![North Korean leader Kim Jong-un speaks at the second day of the Supreme People's Assembly in Pyongyang on March 23 in this photo carried by the Korean Central News Agency on March 24. [YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/04/14/0dd0a7a8-de5b-4a0f-b613-979d39676e14.jpg)
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un speaks at the second day of the Supreme People's Assembly in Pyongyang on March 23 in this photo carried by the Korean Central News Agency on March 24. [YONHAP]
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has sent an educational aid fund and stipends to an association of pro-Pyongyang residents in Japan to mark this week's 114th birthday of late state founder Kim Il Sung, the North's state media reported on Tuesday.
Kim sent 316.4 million yen ($1.98 million) in such funds to the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan for “democratic national education of Korean children in Japan” to mark the founder's birthday, which falls on April 15, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
Since taking office in late 2011, Kim has sent educational aid funds and scholarships every year to the association around the time of his late grandfather's birthday.
Kim Il Sung; Kim Jong-il, the late father of the incumbent leader; and Kim Jong-un have sent a total of 50.3 billion yen on 172 occasions to children of pro-Pyongyang ethnic Koreans in Japan, the KCNA said.
Experts said Kim Jong-un appears to have an intent to use the education aid to elicit loyalty from young ethnic Koreans in Japan. His late mother, Ko Yong-hui, was a Korean resident in Japan, which North Korea views as having a low societal status in the North.
Yonhap
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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