[The Second Take] Zainichi Are Not Confined to "Pachinko"

Inequality Persists Despite the Passage of Time
Still Treated as Foreigners... Barred from Becoming Police Officers and More
Kim Kyung-deuk and Others Attempt to Defy the Odds Like Solomon in "Pachinko"

Apple TV+’s "Pachinko" sheds light on the history of Zainichi (在日) families from the Japanese colonial period to 1989. Each life is filled with hardship. Every day is a continuous series of contempt and cold treatment. They cannot even find ordinary jobs. They all take on jobs that Japanese people avoid to stave off hunger. One of these is the pachinko business. It is widely perceived as a lowly job run by organized crime groups. For Sunja (Kim Min-a, Youn Yuh-jung) and her family, it is the only means to continue surviving. They overcome hardships with indomitable will and achieve economic power that others envy. However, their unequal status does not change. Sunja’s grandson Solomon (Jin Ha) also faces hatred and contempt.

Even more than 30 years later, the situation has not changed much. Zainichi are still treated as foreigners. Ordinary foreign residents must be issued a "residence card," while special permanent residents must be issued a card embedded with an IC chip called a "special permanent resident certificate." Unlike the old alien registration card, there is no obligation to carry it at all times. However, if a police officer requests to see it, they must accompany the officer to the place where it is kept and present it. What about the occupations highlighted in "Pachinko"? There are still many jobs that Zainichi cannot do. A representative example is politicians elected by vote, such as members of the National Diet and local assembly members. Police officers and public school teachers are also prohibited. Even though they are born and raised in Japan and live in the same society, their dreams are inherently limited.

In the postwar period, Zainichi could work as public officials, employees of the National Railways (now JR), and postal workers. However, in 1952, when their Japanese nationality was denied, they faced criticism that their qualifications should be revoked. That year, the Cabinet’s Legislative Bureau (an agency responsible for reviewing laws and legislation) stated, "To become a public official who exercises public authority or participates in plans to form national will, Japanese nationality is required. However, academic and technical affairs, mechanical labor, and routine duties are excluded." In fact, this was only the government’s view. No law explicitly states that public officials must be Japanese nationals.

Like Solomon in "Pachinko," some Zainichi try to reverse this trend. Why do they choose difficult struggles without naturalizing as Japanese? The answer can be found in the protest of the late Kim Kyung-deuk, the first lawyer in Japan without Japanese nationality. He passed the second stage of the bar exam in 1976. To be hired as a judicial trainee, Japanese nationality was required. Kim objected to the naturalization demand and became a judicial trainee in 1977 following a Supreme Court decision. In the petition he submitted during this process, he wrote the following:

"I cannot lightly apply for naturalization. That would mean losing the very reason I sought to become a lawyer. Even if I naturalized and then worked to eliminate discrimination against Koreans and practiced law for Koreans, how could I, as a naturalized person, be involved in eliminating discrimination against Koreans? Also, even if I told the children of compatriots who are hurt in their young hearts by resenting being Korean, 'Do not be ashamed of being Korean and live strongly,' what effect would it have if those words came from a naturalized person?"