I have been invited to a film festival in Korea!
The documentary film that followed me for six years, “Though I’m His Daughter” (directed by Hiroshi Nagatsuka, released on June 15, 2025), has been selected for the South Korean documentary film festival EIDF.
Accompanying this, I received the following invitation from EIDF:
“We’d like to invite NAGATSUKA Yo, the director and MATSUMOTO Rika, the protagonist of the film to Korea so that “Though I’m His Daughter” team can meet Korea audience. Please join EIDF and honor us with your presence”
The film festival is held from August 25 to 30.
Thank you, EIDF, for inviting me to the film festival!
Unable to Enter Korea
But—will I be able to enter Korea?
Since December 2014, after being falsely accused by the Public Security Intelligence Agency as being an executive of the AUM-shinrikyo known as a cult, I have not been able to travel abroad freely.
I had previously been able to enter Canada without any issues, but I was later denied entry due to concerns such as "engagement in government overthrow" and "involvement in terrorism. I was also refused entry to South Korea, although the reasons for the denial remain unknown.
On December 6, 2017, I had purchased a round-trip ticket and booked a hotel, planning to go to Korea for a three-day, two-night trip.
I wanted to see the 38th parallel with my own eyes to understand what it means when a country suddenly divided into two by a proxy war, and families are separated and can no longer meet.
At the KOREAN AIR check-in counter at Haneda Airport, my sister’s passport was swiped through the keyboard. In recent years, check-in counters have keyboards that can read something like a barcode printed on passports. Her boarding pass was issued right away, and there seemed to be no problem.
However, when it came to my passport, an error appeared. The staff looked puzzled and repeatedly swiped my passport through the keyboard. After several attempts, she took it to another desk with two computers.
“Is there any problem?”
My hands and feet were cold with a grim foreboding and I began to get a cold sweat.
"We need to confirm with the South Korean immigration authorities regarding your passport."
“Is there any problem?”
“We need to check whether there is a problem. It could be a computer error... Could you please sit and wait?”
After some communication, immigration did not grant permission, so I was unable to receive a boarding pass. I did not want to give my sister needless anxiety, I wept in the restroom for a while and pretended to be okay.
But my body was honest—I came down with a fever and ended up bedridden after I returned home.
Later, I went to the South Korean embassy to apply for a visa, but that was also refused.
Japanese Government passes false information to foreign countries
Afterwards, I heard tell that a person who was once a top executive of the AUM Shinrikyo traveled to Korea in 2018.
I was 11 years old when the Tokyo subway sarin attack happened and knew nothing about it. Moreover, I left the cult when I was 16 years old. Despite that, why?
I have no choice but to conclude that government agencies, including the Public Security Intelligence Agency, have been notifying foreign countries that Rika Matsumoto is an executive of AUM Shinrikyo or a terrorist organization, or that Rika Matsumoto is a terrorist.
In July 2019, I requested the government to disclose information about my name, including which official documents it is used in and in what context.
I thought the government would conceal necessary information and only provide heavily redacted documents. Even so, I hoped to find some clues...
However, the government's responses were unimaginable.
The government refused even to answer whether such documents exist regarding the presence or absence of my personal information — in other words, whether documents exist concerning how the government is using my name.
The government said that answering whether it possesses the requested personal information would reveal what information the Public Security Intelligence Agency has provided to the Cabinet Intelligence Council, Joint Intelligence Council, National Security Council, Secretary General of National Security, and others.
I hope to travel abroad freely including South Korea.
I want to go to South Korea and attend the South Korean film festival. I want to meet and talk with the people who have seen my film in South Korea.
I have lived my life carrying the label of a perpetrator’s family, and it has left my family divided. When a country is divided, I think many people have suffered. I want to see the 38th parallel with my own eyes and experience South Korean history.
I will go to South Korea on August 27.
Please, let the South Korean government accept my entry. Let me enter South Korea. Let me participate in the South Korean film festival.