have supported voting rights for permanent foreign residents. However, the Japanese Diet has not yet passed a resolution regarding this matter despite several attempts by a section within Liberal Democratic Party of Japan to do so, and there is considerable public and political opposition against granting voting rights to those who have not yet adopted Japanese nationality. Instead, the requirements for naturalization has been steadily lowered for Zainichi to the point that only criminal records or affiliation to North Korea would be a hindrance for naturalization. Both Zainichi organisations oppose this, as both organisations see naturalization as de facto assimilation. In November 2011, the South Korean government moved to register Zainichi Koreans as voters in South Korean elections, a move which attracted few registrants. While Mindan-affiliated Zainichi Koreans have pressed for voting rights in Japan, they have very little interest in becoming a voting bloc in South Korean politics. Chongryon for its part opposes moves to allow Zainichi Koreans to participate in Japanese politics, on the grounds that they assimilate Koreans into Japanese society and thus weaken Korean ethnic identity. Korean schools The pro-Pyongyang Chongryon operates 218 Chōsen gakkō (Korean: , Hanja: , Japanese: ) across Japan, including kindergartens and one university. All lessons, and all conversations within the school are conducted in Korean. They teach a strong pro-North Korean ideology and allegiance to Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un. The textbooks include an idealized depiction of the economic development of North Korea and Songun policy of Kim Jong-il. One of the issues is funding. The schools were originally set up and run with support from the North Korean government but this money has now dried up, and with dropping pupil numbers, many schools are facing financial difficulties. The Japanese government has refused Chongryon's requests that it fund ethnic schools in line with regular Japanese schools, citing Article 89 of the Japanese Constitution, where use of public funds for education by non-public bodies is prohibited. In reality the schools are in fact partly funded by local authorities, but subsidies are given in the form of special benefits paid to the families of pupils, as opposed to paying the schools directly, in order to avoid a blatant breach of Article 89. It is also much less than the amount received by state schools. Another issue is an examination called the High School Equivalency Test, or daiken, which qualifies those who