17. Mr. Patonasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement on the riots in Kobe and Osaka in which attacks were made by Koreans on the offices of the prefectures.
§ Mr. MayhewThe apparent cause of the recent disturbances in Kobe and Osaka, fairly full accounts of which have appeared in the Press, was the decision of the Japanese authorities to close certain Korean schools. Koreans now in Japan were given the option of repatriation in 1946 and were told that if they decided to remain they would be subject to Japanese law, retaining their Japanese nationality until a duly-established Korean Government should recognise them as Korean nationals. Their subjection to Japanese law includes liability to give their children 95W eight years of compulsory education under the Japanese curriculum, although the teaching of Korean language and culture in addition is not prohibited. The Koreans have resisted this ruling, and have forcibly occupied Japanese state school premises. It was when the Japanese police tried to evacuate them that rioting began. Some 1,300 arrests have been made, and latest reports indicate that the situation is under control.