Some of his colleagues say the death of Kim Young Dal in Amagasaki, an industrial town near Osaka, has revealed the shadowy reach of the Pyongyang government into Japan. Others scoff at the theory. But the mystery has thrown light on the furtive inner world of Korean politics played out among the sizable Korean population in Japan. Despite Japan's cold view of North Korea, which it accuses of kidnapping nearly a dozen Japanese through the years and periodically unnerving the country with spy submarines and test missiles, an active pro-Pyongyang community flourishes here. The victim was trying to set up a delicate meeting with a North Korean agent, Lee said, and had been threatened.
Police refuse to speak about the case and have made no arrests.
Kim's body was found in his apartment May 8 after friends became alarmed when he didn't show up for classes at two universities where he lectured. Authorities said he was killed two weeks earlier. The group is a small but vocal critic of Pyongyang and had embarrassed the government by publicizing photos of victims of the North Korean famine. More recently, Lee said, Kim helped expose a Chosen Soren member as an official of the ruling North Korean Workers' Party. Kim was trying to act as a go-between to arrange that meeting when he was killed, Lee said.