Circus at court...

It was like a circus at the press club. The press conference of two old men were longer than ever.

I did give a hand to covering the news that was featured in each and every piece of medium this past week, but it was nothing more than a helping hand, as I had to concentrate on the critical day coming at the end of this week...

what kind of circus is this!?

(aritcle from Kyodo)
◆Court orders Chongryon to repay RCC debts, OKs seizure of head office
TOKYO, June 18 KYODO
The Tokyo District Court on Monday ordered the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, or Chongryon, to repay 62.7 billion yen as demanded to a governmental debt-collection body, and allowed seizure of the premises of the Chongryon headquarters in lieu of payment.
The Resolution and Collection Corp. is expected to start procedures soon to impound the headquarters of Chongryon, which has functioned as the de facto North Korean embassy in Japan for decades as the two countries have no diplomatic ties.
The Chongryon headquarters has drawn public attention recently as an investment advisory firm headed by former governmental intelligence chief Shigetake Ogata, who had been involved in monitoring the moves of Chongryon, tried unsuccessfully to purchase it for 3.5 billion yen in an effort to avert seizure of the premises.
Rejecting Chongryon's claim that the RCC's demand is politically motivated, Presiding Judge Tsutomu Arai said, ''It cannot be recognized that there was any political purpose to deprive Chongryon of its premises, leading to its dissolution.''
An RCC spokesperson declined to comment on whether it would go ahead with forcible seizure of the headquarters.
Earlier in the day, meanwhile, veteran lawyer Koken Tsuchiya, representing Chongryon, said he had taken procedures to transfer ownership of the property on the official registry back to the association from Ogata's company.
The ownership of the Chongryon premises had been transferred in a deal that was not immediately accompanied by any payment, prompting law-enforcement officials to suspect it was a fake transaction and to search the homes and offices of Tsuchiya and Ogata last week.
Tsuchiya, a former chief of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, told a press conference in Tokyo, ''I apologize for causing a disturbance to the public, owing in part to misunderstanding.''
But Tsuchiya criticized the RCC, saying the purpose of the suit was to try to ''destroy the Chongryon organization and that could lead authorities to deprive innocent Korean residents in Japan of happiness and (affect their) lives.''
During the court hearings, the RCC claimed the 62.7 billion yen represents loans extended by now-defunct ''chogin'' credit unions associated with Chongryon which became bad. The unions were main lenders to pro-Pyongyang Korean residents in Japan.
The RCC, which took over the nonperforming loans from the credit unions, claimed Chongryon is bound to pay the 62.7 billion yen as the money was effectively handed over to Chongryon under arrangements made by the credit associations.
Chongryon acknowledged the existence of the debts but failed to reach an out-of-court settlement with the RCC.
==Kyodo