Mie Governor Katsuyuki Ichimi intends to review the prefectural government’s practice of hiring foreign nationals mainly for general administrative positions.

A final decision will be made following a survey of 10,000 Mie voters that begins Jan. 26.

Ichimi’s plan should be retracted.

From the 1970s, local governments began dropping the Japanese nationality requirement for hiring workers. At that time, calls started growing to remove the nationality condition to end discrimination toward ethnic Koreans seeking government jobs.

The central government’s position was that civil servants taking part in the exercise of public authority or in forming the will of the state should hold Japanese nationality. It added that it was inappropriate for local governments to hire those with foreign citizenship.

But in 1996, the home affairs minister issued a statement that said a resolution of the issue might be found if appropriate........

© The Asahi Shimbun