Pro-Pyongyang Chongryon Organization in Japan Drops Reunification Goal at First Congress in Four Years

The 26th General Congress of Chongryon (General Association of Korean Residents in Japan — the largest pro-Pyongyang ethnic Korean organization in Japan, with approximately 50,000 members) convened in Tokyo on May 22, 2026, its first congress in four years. In a major ideological shift, Chongryon removed all references to Korean unification from its charter, mirroring North Korea's own constitutional revision that formally redefined South Korea as foreign territory and stripped out reunification language earlier in 2026. References to cooperation with the pro-Seoul Mindan organization were also deleted from Chongryon's governing documents. The move reflects the hardening of North Korea's post-unification-doctrine posture through its overseas diaspora networks. Chongryon — which maintains de facto semi-embassy functions for the DPRK in Japan — has seen declining membership in recent decades as younger generations assimilate or distance themselves from Pyongyang. Bloomberg described the organization as 'North Korea's unofficial embassy in Japan' and noted it is 'losing influence.' The charter revision signals that Pyongyang has moved to align overseas Korean organizations with its new constitutional position removing reunification as a state objective — the most comprehensive such overseas alignment since Kim Jong-un declared South Korea a 'hostile foreign state' in January 2024 and had the Arch of Reunification demolished in October 2024.