group over bad debt Tokyo, Nov 22, SPA -- Japan's state-backed debt collection agencyfiled a lawsuit demanding a Tokyo-based North Korean groupreturn huge debts that had been covered by the governmentdebt relief program, AP quoted an agency official said Tuesday. The Resolution and Collection Corp., or RCC, filed a civillawsuit with the Tokyo District Court, asking the GeneralAssociation of Korean Residents to pay back the 62.8billion yen (US$527.7 million; euro 450.1 million) in baddebts it took over from 16 failed North Korea-linked creditunions, agency spokesman Toshiyuki Tanaka said. Tanaka said the agency has been negotiating with the NorthKorean association, or Chongryong, to confirm its debts.The agency believes that much of the loans paid out to fakepersonal and corporate customers had actually gone to theNorth Korean association, or Chongryong, he said. The RCC took over the Pyongyang-linked credit unions'assets, including Chogin Osaka Credit Cooperative's, for atotal of 181 billion yen (US$1.52 billion; euro 1.17billion) after they were placed under state control in thelate 1990s, he said.--mor1425 Local Time 1125 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/304608