Japanese customs officers on Tuesday confiscated North Korean table tennis players’ belongings, including souvenirs and equipment, at Narita International Airport, local media has reported.
The Sankei newspaper, quoting unnamed sources, reported on Tuesday that Japanese customs inspectors confiscated souvenirs and table tennis equipment – purchased in Japan – from 13 North Korean players at a special security check.
The players had participated in the World Team Table Tennis Championships starting April 28 and ending Monday in Tokyo, the newspaper reported, and were leaving Japan for Beijing en route to Pyongyang.
The North Korean women’s ping-pong team finished eighth in the tournament.
Officials at the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, also known as Chongryon, the main pro-Pyongyang organization in Japan, weren’t available for comment late Tuesday.
Japan bars all trade with North Korea. It has banned all exports to North Korea and port calls by North Korean vessels due to Pyongyang’s nuclear tests and missile launches since July 2006.
The Japanese government generally prohibits any North Korean nationals from entering Japan, but issued the players’ visas under the principle of separating sports from politics.
Keisuke Fukuda, a veteran reporter at Toyo Keizai magazine specializing in Korean affairs, told NK News that, when it comes to North Korea, Japan applies very strict rules on personal belongings.
Fukuda said that souvenirs of his, such as North Korean books, dictionaries and almanacs were confiscated by Japanese customs inspectors in September 2012 at Haneda Airport in Tokyo on his way home from Pyongyang via Beijing, a move he considered excessive.
“Is it really necessary for Tokyo to confiscate someone’s personal belongings like that?” Fukuda said.
Picture: Wikimedia Commons
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