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Pro-Pyongyang facilities enjoying preferential tax treatment+
(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)TOKYO, Dec. 31_(Kyodo) _ Thirty municipalities reduce property tax rates on facilities belonging to the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan or exempt them from taxes completely, citing their public nature, a government survey showed Friday.
Although diplomatic facilities in Japan are exempt from fixed property tax, there is a growing opinion in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party that the association is different from embassies.
Such LDP members also insist that local governments should impose the tax as part of efforts to put pressure on North Korea, which has no diplomatic ties with Japan, to resolve the abduction issue involving Japanese nationals.
The association has a central headquarters and local branches in 49 municipalities.
A support group for Japanese abductees filed a lawsuit demanding the Kumamoto city government stop giving a facility owned by the association preferential tax treatment, but the Kumamoto District Court rejected the claim in April, ruling that the Kumamoto Korean Hall is eligible for a tax reduction as it serves as a public facility for ethnic Korean residents.
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