Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2020 March 11 - 17 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Saitama City gov’t under fire for discrimination against Korean kindergartners in anti-corona efforts

The government of Saitama City (Saitama Pref.) has come under fire for its discriminatory treatment of a Korean kindergarten in the city’s efforts to contain the new coronavirus outbreak.

The city government plans to supply stockpiled face masks to all day nurseries, kindergartens, and after-school daycare centers as part of measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the city. The city, however, decided on March 12 to exclude a Korean kindergarten from the face mask-supply plan.

A teacher at the preschool, who is a curriculum coordinator, said to Akahata that in response to the school’s inquiry regarding the exclusion decision, a city government official said that if masks are supplied to the Korean school, they are likely to get resold in an improper manner. The teacher added, “Astounded by this remark, I condemned the official for adopting an unjust and inappropriate stance toward the Korean school.”

Saitama City’s discrimination against the Korean school has aroused fierce public criticism and protest.

Japanese Communist Party member of the Saitama City Assembly Matsumura Toshio, who is also the secretary general of the JCP assemblymembers’ group, pointed out that it is unacceptable for city officials to make remarks which might lead to inflaming anti-Korean sentiments. Matsumura said, “Amid growing fears about the coronavirus, in order to protect children’s lives and safety, the city government should provide face masks to ‘all’ childcare facilities.”

Facing increasing criticism from citizens, City Mayor Shimizu Hayato on March 13 announced that the city will include the Korean kindergarten in the planned provision of face masks.