TOKYO: A Buddhist temple yesterday won an auction for North Korea’s de facto embassy in Japan, after it was seized by authorities for unpaid debts.
The Saifukuji temple in southwestern Kagoshima topped the bidding, making an offer of 4.52bn yen ($48m), a temple secretary said. There had been speculation that any new owner could turf out the North Koreans, but temple chief, priest Ekan Ikeguchi, said the function of the building would not change. “We will keep the building this way, and make it a place to promote harmony among ethnic groups, including North Korea,” he said. The property, a 2,390sqm plot and a 10-storey building in central Tokyo has been used as the headquarters of Chongryon, the organisation that represents North Korean interests in Japan. Agencies
