Although around 10,000 people applied for repatriation to North Korea under postwar plans, only 350 actually returned. This article clarifies the historical reality of voluntary residence in Japan.

2017-05-03 11:16:26
The following is a continuation of the previous section.
Based on the U.S.–Soviet Agreement of March 1946, and pursuant to a directive issued by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers in March 1947, a repatriation plan to North Korea was formulated.
Approximately 10,000 people applied for this repatriation.
However, those who actually returned to North Korea numbered only 350.
During the Korean War, repatriation to either the northern or southern regions of Korea was not carried out.
After the armistice was concluded, regular vessels to South Korea became available, and by the end of 1958, several thousand people had repatriated to South Korea.
There were still no direct vessels to North Korea.
It is believed that several dozen individuals returned to North Korea via routes such as Hong Kong, finding vessels at their own expense.
Thus, the majority of those who did not repatriate to Korea and instead remained in Japan by their own will were individuals who had come to Japan early and had already established their livelihoods.
Laborers who came during the war, demobilized soldiers, and military employees were unfamiliar with life in mainland Japan, and therefore only a very small number of them remained in Japan after the war.
To be continued.