Chongryon HQ sale decision delayed
The Tokyo District Court has extended the decision deadline regarding the sale of the foreclosed North Korean Chongryon Headquarters in Tokyo. The court was expected to announce their decision on October 22, but a lack of information on the buyer, Avar Limited Liability Corporation, means the court needs more time to determine whether or not they are in a position to go through with the purchase.
Avar bid 5.01 billion Yen (approximately 51 million USD) for the 10-storey building in Chiyoda-ku.
Information on the mysterious buyer is still vague. Investigations by media outlets discovered that the company was created in January 2013 with a capital investment of just 60,000 Yen. Mongolian tax officials have no record of Avar paying taxes or insurance premiums. The business is registered to an apartment in Chingeltei, Ulaanbaatar. Neighbors say that the apartment was owned by the father of Avar's director, but he moved out several years ago. The current resident claims to have never heard of the company. Read more
Mysterious foreign co. buys Chongryon HQ
The Tokyo District Court announced that the winning bidder of the foreclosed Chongryon headquarters / North Korean de-facto embassy building was a foreign-owned company called Avar LLC.
The court is now assessing the financial viability of Avar's 5.01 billion Yen bid and will make an official decision on the sale on October 22.
*Update: The decision deadline was extended for unknown reasons. On October 21, a citizen's group filed a petition with the district court alleging that Avar is a fictitious company.Read more
Chongryon HQ's second auction to be held in October
The Chongryon headquarters and North Korean de-facto embassy building and land in Chiyoda-ku will be put up for public auction in October after the bidder from the first auction was unable to go through with the purchase.
Bidding is open from the October 3 to 10 and bids will be opened on October 17. The minimum bid is 2.134 billion Yen (21.7 million USD) and a deposit of 533.6 million Yen (5.4 million USD) is required to bid. Read more
Chongryon headquarters back on the auction block
The Chongryon headquarters and North Korean de facto embassy building in Tokyo will be put up for public auction for a second time in early October.
The building and land was first listed for auction in March 2013. It made headlines after the winning bidder - the chief priest of a Kagoshima-based buddhist temple - failed to come up with the money for his 4.5 billion Yen bid.Read more
Chongryon Headquarters purchased by religious organisation
*Update: Chief Priest Ekan Ikeguchi of Buddhist temple Saifukuji announced at a press conference on May 10 that he can no longer purchase the building as the temple was unable to obtain financing. As a result, he will lose his 500 million Yen deposit and be banned from bidding on the building when it goes up for auction again this summer.*
A Kagoshima-based religious organisation made the highest bid to purchase the Chongryon Headquarters / North Korean Embassy in Tokyo's Chiyoda-ku. Saifukuji - a part of the Shingon Buddhism sect - bid 4.519 billion Yen (48 million USD) for the property.Read more
A look inside the foreclosed Chongryon headquarters
The headquarters of the Chongryon and de facto embassy of North Korea in central Tokyo were seized by the Supreme Court in 2012 over unpaid debts. The 10-storey building and 2390 sqm block of land are up for public auction this month with bids open from March 12 to March 19.
The court evaluation is approximately 2.66 billion Yen (28 million USD), which is not even close to the 62.7 billion Yen debt owed by Chongryon to the Resolution and Collection Corporation. Despite the prime location, the court evaluation is considered to be relatively low. This is partly attributed to the building's ties with North Korea which may turn off a few investors.Read more