Han, Duk Su

HAN DUK-SU (1907-2001). Head of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (generally known by the Japanese reading of the shortened form of its title as Chosen Soren) from its foundation in 1955 until his death in Tokyo in February 2001. Han was born in North Gyeongsang Province in February 1907 and moved to Japan in 1927. He was active among Korean workers in Japan and was repeatedly arrested and imprisoned. After the end of World War II in 1945, he was one of the organizers of the General Federation of Koreans in Japan, which became Chosen Soren in 1955, and then became its director. Under him, the organization became closely linked with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and with its leader Kim Il Sung. Han was a member of the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland from 1949 and was a delegate to the Supreme People's Assembly from 1967 onward. He was also rector of the DPRK-funded Korean University in Tokyo. He was often received by both Kim Il Sung and his son and successor Kim Jong Il, and he received many DPRK medals and awards.

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