Clashes between the Japanese government and the ethnic Korean population peaked with the Hanshin Education Incident on 24 April 1948, in which 1,732 people were arrested.

[11] Set up in October 1945, the League of Koreans (also known as the Choryŏn) initially opened & operated the schools, until the organisation was disbanded due to its socialist ties in 1949.

[1] After the Japanese government normalized relations with South Korea in 1965, it encouraged local authorities to deny miscellaneous status to North-affiliated Chōsen schools.

[17] As a growing industrial economy, North Korea funnelled funds through the Chongryon to finance Chōsen schools, along with parents paying tuition fees.

[18][1] In 2021, a press release from Pyongyang reported that, since the start of the Chōsen gakkō, North Korea had sent over ₩500 billion (US$437.08 million) of financial support.

[23] In the 2011 fiscal year, the Osaka Prefectural Government ended subsidies to an educational corporation which operates ten Chōsen gakkō.

[27] Lawsuits have been launched throughout Japan against these unfair treatments against Chōsen gakkō students as discrimination based on ethnic origin and heritage.

[29][30] A few months later, the Tokyo District Court ruled against a Chōsen gakkō school, upholding the Japanese government's decision to withhold tuition subsidies.

[33] In November 2019, former high ranking member of far-right group Zaitokukai was fined ¥500,000 (US$4,555.81) for calling Chōsen schools “spy training centers".

[35][36] There was public outcry in South Korea, and the collective efforts of 10 civic groups resulted in donations of 1,500 masks and over ₩24 million (US$20,979.94).

This legislation especially applies to those seeking to make contact with people linked to Chōsen schools that are affiliated with the Chongryon (the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan), which has ties to North Korea.

[40] Cho Eun-seong stated, "in the past 10 years, I have made several documentaries related to Koreans in Japan and this is the first time something like this has happened.

"[41] The news of Seoul's investigations sparked outrage in Japan, with many fearing they could be suspected as a spy for simply speaking to someone North Korean.