On the surface , it resembles just about any other high school in Japan -- or any high school in most places around the world . Students sit quietly studying math , science and English ; some struggle to stay focused , looking at the clock and waiting for the bell to ring . When the school day ends , some move out to the sports fields for rugby or soccer practice , while others study music in emptying hallways . What makes this school different is the pictures of two men scattered throughout the building -- portraits of North Korea 's founder Kim Il Sung and previous leader Kim Jong Il . The Tokyo Korean Middle and High School , which is currently home to 650 students , is one of 10 high schools in Japan with long standing ties to North Korea . It 's something the school 's principal , Gil-ung Shin , is very open about . `` Yes , North Korea has given us financial support over the years , sending us money and textbooks , '' he says . The school also organizes annual trips to Pyongyang , where students are given highly orchestrated tours of the reclusive North Korean capital . But the students we spoke with laughed at suggestions from some quarters that they are being trained as spies . `` People think we 're being brain-washed . We 're not . We just want to study Korean culture and language , '' 17-year-old Kyong Rae Ha says . Sang Yong Lee , also 17 , laughs at such notions , saying , `` No , I 'm not being trained to be a spy . This is just a place where I can show my pride as a Korean , living in Japan . '' In fact , most of the students were born in Japan , as were many of their parents and grandparents . Korea was a Japanese colony until the end of the Second World War , and many Koreans were brought to Japan -- many against their will -- before the country was eventually divided between north and south . But the mistrust runs deep , and many Japanese are wary of such schools . Fresh on the minds of many in Japan is North Korea 's admitted kidnapping of Japanese citizens from Japanese soil in the 1970s and 1980s . Pyongyang says it considers the matter resolved , but Japan has long demanded more answers . North Korea 's strategic posture has also alarmed Japan . There 's concern over an imminent nuclear test by North Korea -- which would be its third since 2006 . And in December , Pyongyang launched a rocket that it said put the Shining Star-3 satellite into orbit . But that is only a small part of the equation . Amid increasingly threatening rhetoric from North Korea towards its neighbors and the U.S. , Japan 's new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is steadfastly refusing to consider requests for government funding for any pro-Pyongyang schools in Japan . It 's a high stakes battle for millions of dollars . The students and their families argue they should get help with tuition from the central government , and the school should receive subsidies from local prefectures . They argue that they are no different from the students at other international schools in Japan , which are afforded such luxuries . `` We pay the same taxes as everyone else , '' Kyong Rae Ha says . `` It makes me angry as well as sad . '' Shin acknowledges the abductions , and says the students learn about the crimes . And when we ask about the ever-present portraits of North Korea 's leaders -- portraits that also hang in his office -- and whether he 's thought of taking them down , he says it 's simply a way of saying thanks to those who 've helped fund the school over the years . But he adds , `` We do n't force the students to pledge their loyalty to anyone . `` I just feel bad that my students are caught in the middle of all of this . ''
Tokyo Korean Middle and High School one of one schools in Japan with ties to Tokyo . Portraits of N. Korea 's founder Kim Il Sung and previous leader Kim Jong Il hang on walls . 17-year-old Kim Jong Il Ha : We just want to study Korean culture and language . Most of the students were born in Tokyo , which colonized North Korea until after WWII .