Responding to Susan Menadue-Chun¡¯s Nov. 15 letter, ¡±,¡± I wish to emphasize that, in my Nov. 11 letter, I was posing a rhetorical question rather than advocating that ¡°Special Permanent Residents,¡± including those with ties to pro-North Korea groups, be subject to the new biometric screening procedure upon re-entering Japan.
To restate my point: Why are such foreign residents exempt from the procedure (which is being implemented as part of Japan¡¯s contribution to the ¡°war on terror¡°) when the Japanese government strenuously objects to Washington¡¯s plan to de-list Pyongyang from its list of nations sponsoring terrorism, and since 2002 has been carrying out a hysterical campaign of whipping up anti-North Korean sentiment in connection with the abduction issue, a campaign that doubtlessly has made life more difficult for all Korean residents in Japan?
I agree with Menadue-Chun that zainichi Koreans have suffered enough without having to endure further humiliation at the hands of Tokyo¡¯s bureaucratic clones. The motive of the new biometrics clearly is not stopping terrorism, but rather a new expression of Japan¡¯s deep-seated racism and xenophobia.
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