Mystery Mongolian firm buys pro-Pyongyang organization’s headquarters

The building which served as the former Tokyo headquarters of the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan – also better known as Chongryon – has been bought by a mystery Mongolian firm, fueling rumors of espionage around the purchase. The successful bidder was Avar Limited Liability Company, a business entity that is based in Mongolia who bid around 5 billion yen (about US$51 million) for the building.

Aside from the name of the company and their location, almost nothing else is known about the winner of the bid, fueling the rumors and speculations. No Mongolian business has ever bought a building in Tokyo before, making this the first time an entity or organization from that country has ever owned real estate property in the Japanese capital. Located in the city’s Chiyoda district, the former Chongryon headquarters building stands 10 storeys high and has two basement floors. The property was built in 1986.

The Japanese court decided in July 2012 to auction off the building after Chongryon was left owing 62.7 billion yen to Resolution and Collection Corp. after the credit union serving the pro-North Korean residents collapsed and went bankrupt. One of the winners of the initial round of bidding was a Buddhist temple in Kagoshima Prefecture who was known to be friendly with North Korean officials. The temple had bid 4.519 billion yen for the 10-story building, but later withdrew from the purchase as it could not come up with the funds needed for the purchase.