This essay traces the background of Cho Jong-rak, his activities within Chongryon, his involvement in operations against South Korea, suspected links to the Mun Se-gwang incident, illegal routes to North Korea, and the extraordinary wealth symbolized by his mansion and business interests.
Through the striking gap between his formal position within Chongryon and his lavish lifestyle, it exposes the hidden reality and darkness of the pro-North Korean network in Japan.

2019-06-16
He maintains the grand mansion mentioned above in Nada Ward, Kobe.
“Within Chongryon, Cho was at most on the level of a branch manager or department chief.
So the question becomes, why was he living in such extravagant style?” (A Chongryon-related source)

I record here the career of Cho Jong-rak.
Cho was born in Osaka in 1938.
Born into extreme poverty, he even spent a period making charcoal deep in the mountains of Tamba.
He took part in the formation of Chongryon in 1955.
After serving as an instructor in the headquarters propaganda department and working at the Nada branch of Chongryon, he appears to have been engaged in operations against the South, that is, against South Korea, by the mid-1960s.
Around 1968, he served as head of the organization department of Chongryon’s East Kobe branch and also of its Amagasaki West branch.
In 1974, he is said to have been involved in the so-called “Mun Se-gwang incident,” in which a young Korean resident in Japan attempted to assassinate President Park Chung-hee and the First Lady was killed.
In 1975, he helped Han travel to North Korea by an illegal route crossing back and forth over the Sea of Japan.
In the 1980s, he frequently visited Unsan in North Pyongan Province, North Korea, where his parents had returned, and urged the Party Central Committee to develop gold mining in Unsan.
According to a Chongryon-related source, the reason Cho became the leader of such a clandestine organization was that “he was good at making money.”
While purchasing a condominium in Yamagata and running pachinko parlors, he also maintained the grand mansion mentioned above in Nada Ward, Kobe.
“Within Chongryon, Cho was at most on the level of a branch manager or department chief.
So the question becomes, why was he living in such extravagant style?” (A Chongryon-related source)