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North Korea "returnees"

Chosenese "repatriates" and their families, 1959-1990

By William Wetherall

First posted 1 January 2007
Last updated 20 December 2010

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   "Repatriation" to North Korea • "Japanese wives" • Wings Like a Bird • Foreign Affairs council testimony • Honseki in DPRK provinces

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"Repatriation" to North Korea

On 25-26 May 1955, Koreans in Japan who aligned themselves with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) formed the "General Association of Korean Residents in Japan". Chongryun (總聯 총련 Ch'ongryŏn, J. Sōren), as it is commonly called in short, was essentially a reincarnation of an organization called Chōren in Japanese and Choryŏn in Korean (朝聯 조련), which had been founded on 15 August 1945 but quickly turned pro-Communist, and on 8 September 1949 was ordered to disband by the Japanese government with the blessings of GHQ/SCAP for alleged illegal and subservise activities. Chongryun was formed out of a number of smaller organizations which had sprung up in the wake of Chōren's break-up.

By July 1955, Chongryun was campaigning on behalf of members who wished to "repatriate" to DPRK. By the end of 1955, the Japanese Red Cross Society was colluding with the International Red Cross and the Japanese government to faciliate repatriation. By the beginning of 1956, the Japanese Red Cross Society was in Pyongyang talking with its DPRK counterpart.

Japanese government position

In the late 1950s, the Japanese government, which had not yet normalized its relations with the Republic of Korea (ROK), was not in a position to negotiate directly with DPRK. By the end of the year, however, the Japanese Red Cross Society -- with the informal approval of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), and with concrete MOFA cooperation in the form of tentative planning -- was feeling out the International Red Cross and engaging in dialogue that it hoped would lead to a repatriation scheme.

In addition to the usual governmental concerns about compliance with laws, the Japanese government wished to faciliate especially the "repatriation" of Koreans in Japan who were unable to support themselves.

The question of who was to bear the welfare costs for Koreans in Japan, when the Allied Occupation ended and they lost their Japanese nationality, had been a bone of contention between Japan and ROK in the first round of talks between the two countries, conducted between October 1951 and April 1952. ROK had agreed that, while in legal principle it should either bear the welfare costs of Koreans who became its nationals and needed public assistance, or allow Japan to deport them to ROK. But ROK also had compelling reasons to reject both solutions.

ROK had argued in the 1951-1952 talks -- and was still, in the late 1950s, arguing -- that Japan should treat its postwar Korean residents differently than it did other aliens, considering the historical causes of their presence in Japan. Japan, in the 1951-1952 talks, had agreed to treat them as permanent residents, matters concerning welfare and deportation remained on the table.

ROK also balked at the idea of deportation, for economic and other reasons, partly because accepting Koreans unable to make a living in Japan, or who had been arrested for unlawful activities of a political nature, entailed the risk of having to accept Koreans in Japan who were Communists or otherwise sympathetic with DPRK.

In the late 1950s, while various parties angled some kind of scheme to faciliate "repatriation" to DPRK, there was as yet no light at the end of the ROK-Japan negotiation tunnel. The Korean peninsula, still militarily tense after the 1953 armistice, had barely begun to emerge from the ashes of war. And "cold war" was a misnomer for the revolutionary coals that simmered and sparked, and occasionally ignited ideological tinderboxes in many parts of Asia.

ROK had argued, in the 1951-1952 talks, that it was then at war and totally unable to compensate Japan for public assistance costs. There was some discussion of providing a period of grace, after which ROK would begin to foot part of the bill. But by the late 1950s, Japan itself was in the midst of a severe post-Korean-War recession, which contributed to the higher unemployment rate of Koreans in Japan.

So in the late 1950s, not only was the Japanese government hopeful that a repatriation program would reduce the number of Koreans in Japan with Communist sympathies, but it had reason believe that many if not most of those who were saying they wanted to leave Japan for DPRK were unemployed. And the Great Leader himself was inviting them to return to their national (racioethnic) hearth and contribute their labor to the building of a socialist paradise.

And by August 1959, the Red Cross societes of Japan and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea signed a Repatriation Agreement in the witness of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Calcutta. A repatriation guide was issued, and the Japanese Red Cross Society, the Japanese government, and Chongryun agreed to supplementary rules.

The main object of the accord and the guidelines was to confirm that "repatriation" would be voluntary and orderly. Since the "returnees" would be departing from Japan, their disembarkation would have also have to be in compliance with Japan's border control laws, which applied to both aliens and Japanese. And not only Koreans -- but some Japanese, as legal or common-law wives or as children or other relatives, and possibly even some people of other nationalities -- would be standing in the "repatriation" line.

Controlled "repatriation" to DPRK

A few Koreans had illegally left or entered Japan during and after the Occupation. Between the start of repatriation talks in 1955 and the beginning of organized repatriation to the north in 1959, there were also a few cases of small groups of Koreans boarding foreign ships for the north without documents or, apparently, other forms of permission.

In early December 1959, a Red Cross repatriation center was set up in Niigata, and the first shipful of "returnees" left Niigata on 14 December 1959. By the end of the month, three voyages had made three voyages, carrying a total of 2,942 people -- 2,717 Koreans and 225 Japanese (including 57 wives of Koreans) -- an average of 981 per voyage.

In 1960, some 49,036 (45,094 Koreans, 3,937 Japanese, and 5 Chinese) left. In 1961, another 22,801 (21,027 Koreans, 1,773 Japanese, and 1 Chinese) left. 3,497 left in 1962 and 2,567 left in 1962. From 1962, the numbers gradually declined (see table below).

The migration to DPRK included a few Japanese and a handful of Chinese. Some 7.2 percent of the 93,346 people (93,386 by some counts) who had "returned" to the north by 1990 were Japanese, meaning people affiliated with family registers in Japan. Some 27.2 percent of these Japanese were women legally married to a Korean returnee.

By all accounts, many of those who made the voyage to DPRK soon regretted their decision to leave Japan. See below for details.

Tessa Morris-Suzuki has written most passionately about the "repatriation" as "one of the modern world's most bizarre, tragic and utterly forgotten 'humanitarian' projects" (Japan Focus, undated, viewed in December 2010). She also qualifies them as "The Forgotten Victims of the North Korean Crisis" -- though it is not clear why she considers it a "DPRK" as opposed to a "Korean" or even "Northeast Asias" or "East Asian" or even "Global" crises -- given its historical origins and development.

Morris-Suzuki has, however, done an very credible amount of leg work, and her dramatic narratives of the plights of some of the so-called returnees, including a few who managed to return to Japan, are worth reading and taking to heart. My purpose here, however, is somewhat different.

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"Repatriation" to DPRK

A systematic legal "return" or "repatriation" to what had become the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) did not become possible until after 13 August 1959. On this date, the Japanese Red Cross Society (JRCS) and its DPRK counterpart signed an agreement, in India, to facilitate Koreans in Japan -- meaning Chosenese, regardless of where in "Korea" their family register was located -- who wished to migrate to "Kita Chōsen" or "North Korea" as DPRK has been called in Japan.

The migration was termed "kikan" (帰還) in Sino-Japanese, meaning essentially "return" but usually in the sense of "repatriation" to one's home country as defined by one's nationality, not place of birth or origin. Though mediated by the Red Cross, the movement of people across Japan's border had to be approved and overseen by the Japanese government, as Japan has the legal right and responsibility to control the departure of aliens and Japanese from Japan.

Although the "repatriation" program was intended for Koreans, non-Koreans were allowed to accompany their Korean family members. Roughly seven percent of the migrants were non-Koreans, mostly Japanese but also a few Chinese.

The agreement was renewed several times through 1967, then again from 1971 and until 1984 or 1985. During these two decades, a total of about 93,340 people -- 81,962 Koreans (87.8 percent), 6,730 Japanese (7.2 percent), and 7 Chinese (0.0075 percent) -- left Japan for DPRK. The Immigration Bureau's 5th periodic report, celebrating the its 30th anniversary, stated of about 6,700 Japanese, an estimated 1,828 (1.96 were "Japanese wives" (Homusho Nyukan 1981, page 129).

The problem of "Japanese wives" became an issue in the Diet. It was also discussed at the 24 May 1974 meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council of the House of Representatives.

At the 1974 council meeting, Kobayashi Shunji, then Chief of the Immigration Inspection Section of the Immigration Bureau, stated that 6,755 Japanese -- including 2,634 males and 4,121 females -- had gone to North Korea, and he estimated that about 2,000 of the woman were "so-called Japanese wives" (いわゆる日本人妻 iwayuru Nihonjin-zuma). See partial transcription of the proceedings of this meeting below. A decade later, Koybayashi was the Bureau Director.

First period (1959-1967)

Japanese Immigration Control Bureau statistics show that a total of 88,611 "returnees" boarded vessels for "North Korea" during the 9-year period 1959-1967. Over 84 percent left in the first three years -- 2,941 on 3 ships toward the end of 1959 -- 49,036 on 48 ships in 1960 -- and 22,801 on 34 ships in 1961. Some 3,497 left on 16 ships in 1961, and an average of about 2,000 left each year thereafter through 1967.

By nationality, the total for the first period, ending in 1967, included 81,962 Chosenese (Chōsenjin), 6,642 Japanese (Nihonjin), and 7 Chinese (Chūgokujin).

Sex and generation

Among the Chosenese, 55.3 percent (45,297) were males and 44.7 percent (36,665) were females. The overall sex ratio was 1.24, but the ratio dropped with generation, from 1.73 for those born before 1920, to 1.12 for those born after 1939.

Most -- 56.3 percent of the total -- were born in or after 1940 and hence were under 30 years of age. Most individuals in this younger age group, and some in the older age groups, had probably been born in the prefectures and had never been to the peninsula. But even the Chosen-born who had migrated to the prefectures when younger would have had little if any memory of life on the peninsula under Japanese rule.

Much less would many, if any, have experienced postwar life on the peninsula, or life north of the 38th parallel either before or after the end of the war. A few may have been on the peninsula when the war ended and returned to domiciles in Occupied Japan. And a few may have briefly gone to the peninsula from Occupied Japan. But the vast majority were people in registers of Chosen provinces south of the 38th parallel.

In fact, alien statistics for "Chosen" registrants in 1959 and 1964, and "Kankoku/Chosen" registrants in 1969, show that 96.9, 97.6, and 98.0 percent of all Koreans residing in Japan were affiliated with family registers in provinces in the Republic of Korea -- which did not, of course, mean that they were ROK nationals.

Employment

About 48 percent (21,773) of the Chosenese males were reportedly adults, of which about 40 percent (8,642) were either unemployed or did not complete the employment box. Apparently, then, about half of the Chosenese returnees were minors, and nearly half of the adult males did not report that they were employed.

Japanese wives

Issues concerning so-called "Japanese wives" are discussed in the following section. However, data on "Japanese wives" are shown in the tables following this section.

Second period (1971-1985)

The second period of supervised migration from Japan to DPRK, from 1971 to 1984 (or 1985), added only 4,729 to the first-period total. See the following tables for details. The nationality breakdowns in the sources from which I have collected figures, however, are incomplete, hence the tables have some omissions.

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Japanese wives

Data on so-called "Japanese wives" among the Japanese who accompanied some Chosenese to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea between 1959 and 1985 or so are consolidated in the tables at the end of the previous section.

The tally of "Japanese wives" in Japanese government counts is based on civil nationality, not race or ethnicity. Some descriptions of "so-called Japanese wives" attempt to include Chosenese who had once been Interiorites -- i.e., women who had been in a prefectural family register and had migrated to a Chosen register when marrying a Chosen man.

If I Had Wings I Would Fly Like a Bird, an English version of a Japanese publication, qualified the "number of Japanese wives" enumerated in a table of statistics like this (Ikeda 1974, Table 1, page 17, note, see below for particulars).

We selected from the list of repatriates Japanese wives who had Japanese citizenship when they went to North Korea. Japanese wives who had North Korean citizenship because of their marriage are not included in this list.

The note makes three typical errors.

The first error was to characterize state affiliation as "citizenship" rather than nationality. Democratic People's Republic of Korea laws describe those who possess DPRK nationality as "citizens", while Japanese laws refer to those who possess Japan's nationality as "nationals". But the civil status, as a state affiliation, is "nationality". In any event, the Chosenese (Koreans) who "repatriated" to DPRK from Japan did not formally possess DPRK nationality.

The second error -- even assuming that "Chosen" status was equivalent to "North Korean citizenship" -- was to suggest that there were "Japanese wives who had North Korean citizenship because of marriage". Presumably the authors are referring to women who had been in a prefectural (Interior) register when they married a man in a Chosen (Korean) register and migrated to his register. Such migrations occurred when Chosen was part of Japan and Chosenese were Japanese -- under Japan's 1899 Nationality Law and laws that concerned private matters, including marriage and adoption, between individuals in Naichi (prefectural) and Chosen (Korean) registers. Such migrations were possible before the 1950 Nationality Law came into effect. All people in Chosen (Korean) registers lost their their Japanese nationality on 28 April 1952. The note does not mention common-law Japanese wives who, because they were not legally married, were not formally tallied as "Japanese wives".

The third error was to generally characterize the migrants to DPRK as "North Korean repatriates" -- since the annual totals include Chosenese (Korean), Japanese, and Chinese. Even allowing that the Koreans were nationals of Korea (defined as Chosen), and that most were old enough to understand what they were doing, half were born in the prefectures. Some of the Japanese or Chinese may have been born on the peninsula, and may have considered Chosen their home. In any event, the nationality tallies are strictly according to civil status based on family registers -- not place of birth or political orientation, much less race or ethnicity.

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If I Had Wings Like a Bird 1974 American edition October 1974 Yosha Bunko If I Had Wings Like a Bird The problem of "Japanese wives" was the subject of several books in Japanese, one of which was also published in English. The American Committee for Human Rights of Japanese Wives of North Korean Repatriates If I Had Wings Like a Bird (I Would Fly Across the Sea) [Letters from the Japanese Wives of North Korean Repatriates] Printed in the United States of America First printing, October, 1974 11 (photographs), 3 (Table of Contents), 167 (text) The conspciuous first photograph shows "Mrs. Edwin O. Reischauer" (Far right, with Mr. Edwin O. Reischauer) and "Mrs. Fumiko Ikeda" (Center) in an unidentified garden. Mrs. Reischauer is identified as the "Honorary President, The American Committee for Human Rights of Japanese Wives of North Korean Repatriates". Mrs. Ikeda is called "Representative, The Association for Human Rights of Japanese Wives of North Korean Repatriates". A "Preface to the American Edition" by Ikeda is dated 18 September 1974 (pages 2-3). A longer and rather different "Preface to the Japanese Edition" by Ikeda is undated. Fumiko Ikeda The following book, edited by Ikeda, was published by the association in Japan the same year (I do not have this book and have never seen it). 池田文子編 日本人妻自由往来実現運動の会 鳥でないのが残念です (北鮮帰還の日本人妻からの便り) 日本人妻自由往来実現運動本部、1974 174ページ、図版7枚 Ikeda Fujimo (editor) Nihonjin-zuma Jiyū Ōrai Jitsugen Undō no Kai [ Association of Japanese wives free going-and-coming actualization movement ] [ Association for movement to establish the freedom of Japanese wives to travel between DPRK and Japan ] Tori de nai no ga zannen desu (Kita Chōsen kikan no Nihonjin-zuma kara no tayori) [ That I am not a bird is regrettable ] [ Too bad I'm not a bird ] (Letters from Japanese wives of North Korean return [repatriation]) ] [ Headquarters of Association of . . . actualization movement ], 1984 174 pages, 7 plates The association, founded by Ikeda in 1974, organized activities in both Japan and the Republic of Korea. Japanese wives of ROK nationals living in ROK visited Japan to participate in symposia and demonstrations, in Osaka, Tokyo, and Sapporo. Some relatives of Japanese wives, who were missing in DPRK or had sent letters about hardships there, visited Panmunjom in ROK to pray for the welfare of the wives while gazing across the DMZ at DPRK. In the introduction of the English edition, Ikeda is described as "the relative of a so-called Japanese wife who emigrated to North Korea of whom it is not known whether she is alive or dead." Ikeda felt "sad and frustrated" because she "had not heard from her lost sister for the thirteen years since her departure" (page 8). Ikeda Fumiko (池田文子) is otherwise known as Erikawa Yasuei (江利川安栄), a social activist involved especially in women's issues. Born in 1946, and a graduate of the law department of Chuo University, she became a member of the Unification Church in Japan, and in 1970 she married in a mass marriage of 777 couples. Erikawa became active in the International Federation for Victory Over Communism (国際勝共連合 Kokusai Shōkyō Rengō), founded by Reverend Sun Myung Moon in 1968 in the Republic of Korea. A Japan branch was set up the same year. Among the federations objectives in Japan was the nullification of the permission the Japanese government had given DPRK-sponsored schools to operate in Japan. Erikawa served as the 7th director of the Unification Church in Japan for ten months from 1998 to 1999. The American Committee "The American Committee for Human Rights of Japanese Wives of North Korean Repatriates" was organized by members of the Unification Church under the direction of Reverend Sun Myung Moon, who at the time was attempting to dissuade the United Nations from passing "a North-Korea backed resolution calling for the dissolution of the U.N. Command in Korea". The book's publication coincided with the fasting from 22-29 October 1974 of some 600 Unification Church members in front of the United Nations to publicize allegations of DPRK's violations of the Japanese wive's human rights. The above statement on the link between the 1974 book and the Unification Church was based on the following publication. 95th Congress, 2d Session: Committee Print INVESTIGATION OF KOREAN-AMERICAN RELATIONS Report of the Subcommittee on International Organizations of the Committee on International Relations U.S. House of Representatives October 31, 1978 Printed for the use of the Committee on International Relations U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON, 1978: 34-674-O For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402 Stock Number 052-070-04729-1 Top   Foreign Affairs Council testimony Testimony made by various discussants at the 24 May 1974 meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council of the House of Representatives reveals how key politicians and bureaucrats viewed the problem of "Japanese wives" in the light of their legal status and Japan's relationship with DPRK. The most interesting observations, for purposes of my analysis, are those made in the testimony of Kobayashi Shunji, then Chief of the Immigration Inspection Section of the Immigration Bureau. The Appendix of If I Had Wings Like a Bird includes a partial translation of relevant exchanges at the 1974 Foreign Affairs Council meeting. The following are my transcriptions of excerpts from the appended translation (pages 126-135). II. Proceedings of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Japanese Diet The Proceedings No. 28 of The Foreign Affairs Committee of the 72nd Session of the House of Representatives of the Japanese Diet started at 10:08 a.m., Friday, May 24th, 1974 [ Particulars about attendees omitted ] Chairman Kimura, Now I open the committee meeting. [ First part of proceedings omitted ] Next, I recognize Mr. Eiichi Nagasue. Mr. Nagasue: I want to ask several questions concerning the problem of Japanese wives in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. According to the Calcutta Agreement, on the 3rd of August, 1959, Korean residents in Japan were repatriated to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (hereafter referred to as North Korea). I want to know how many Japanese wives went to North Korea. Mr. Kobayashi, Expositor from the government: I will answer. It is recorded that the number of Japanese who went over to North Korea is 6755. There were 2634 men and 4121 women. But among the 4121 women, it was not confirmed how many are so-called "Japanese wives". They estimate 2,000. Mr. Nagasue: Why can you only give an estimate about the number of Japanese wives? Didn't you send them to North Korea after you confirmed the number? Mr. Kobayashi: In fact, there are common-law wives and registered ones among the so-called "Japanese wives". That is why the exact number is not statistically classified. Mr. Nagasue: How many Japanese wives are confirmed and not just estimated? I think you use the word "estimate" because it is not clear; but how many Japanese wives are confirmed among the 2,000? Mr. Kobayashi: I think that there is data on the number of wives registered among so-called Japanese wives as a whole. But it is inevitable that common-law wives are included when we talk about so-called Japanese wives. Thus, I said 2,000 as a whole. Mr. Nagasue: Please investigate and report it to our Committee. Then what is their nationality at present? Mr. Kobayashi: Just now I reported the number of those who were Japanese when they went to North Korea. All of them had Japanese passports. With respect to this, I would like to ask for a reply by the Chief of the Fifth Section of the Civil Administration Bureau of the Ministry of Justice. Mr. Inaba, Expositor from the government: So far, this question has not been raised, but we think it is proper to treat them as those who have Japanese nationality. Mr. Nagasue: Insofar as you think it is proper to treat them as those who have Japanese nationality, the Japanese government has the obligation to protect those people, doesn't it, Minister of Justice? Mr. Takashima, Permanent Committee Member representing the government: Of course, the government has the obligation to protect Japanese citizens staying in foreign countries in a general sense. But in this case, the situation is different. As there are no diplomatic relations between Japan and North Korea, even though we want to protect these Japanese wives, it is difficult to do that. Mr. Nagasue: Do you have their present addresses? Mr. Takashima: There are some people whose addresses are known, but many are unknown. Mr. Nagasue: Can you tell us how many? Mr. Takashima: We don't know because we have not investigated it. Mr. Nagasue: If it is so that you have not investigated it, then what does it mean when you say that there are some whose addresses are known and some whose addresses are not known? Mr. Takashima: I mean that we know about those people who give information through their relatives, but we don't know about those people who have no such channel. Mr. Nagasue: Don't you think the Government has the obligation to have information concerning these people? Mr. Takashima: We feel very sorry for the relatives whose repatriates are not known. But it is almost impossible to get the information about them under the present circumstances in North Korea. Mr. Nagasue: Is there any record that some of them have re-visited Japan? Mr. Kobayashi The government has records of communications from Japanese wives (who went to North Korea) expressing their desire to visit their home. So, unless there is evidence that some have visited Japan by an indirect way, we won't be able to say officially whether any of them have ever re-visited Japan. [ Nagase's introduction of passages from some of the eight letters he claims have been made public omitted ] Mr. Nagasue: We have such letters sent from North Korea. Foreign Minister Mr. Ohira, it is confimred by our Government that there are at least 2,000 Japanese people who are under such circumstances. Do you think it is good to leave them as they are? Mr. Ohira, Minister for Foreign Affairs: I am very eager to meet even one part of their request, but first I must consider what kinds of measures can be taken. In fact, they are in North Korea. From North Korea's standpoint they are living under the jurisdiction, sovereighty, and social system of North Korea. It is not North Korea alone that has a tendency to be nervous about legal interference from other nations. In this situation, we have heard the legal viewpoint of the Ministry of Justice that the government must admit that their citizenship is Japanese. I cannot state clearly at this time what Japan can do, what Japan should do or what Japan should not do, but I want to take it into consideration. Mr. Nagasue: The problem comes from the fact that there is no diplomatic relationship between North Korea and Japan. If there were any relationship on the governmental level for which the Japanese government is responsible, there might be some concerted measure which could be taken through the negotiations of the two governments. Repatriation has already been an on-going program for fifteen years. If the Japanese government had initiated this repatriation project with the knowledge that the government would be able to do nothing for them once they went to North Korea, then it could be said that the government has given up that many Japanese. You haven't given them up, have you? They are Japanese. It happens that you have sent them to a place where we cannot do anything for them. What do you think, Mr. Ohira? Mr. Ohira: Those Japanese wives were not forced to go to North Korea. I think the government had confirmed their will to go before they were sent. So I think it is being too severe with the government to think that the government abandoned these people. But it is questionable if those people clearly knew the reality of North Korea. Anyway, we recognize through letters that there are such situations as stated in those letters, so I think we need a lot of research and consideration concerning what we can do, what we should do, and what we should not do. I would like you to give me enough time to make an investigation before I reply. [ Exchanges between Nagasue and Japanese Red Cross Society witness, and Nagasue and Ohira, omitted ]

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Honseki in northern provinces

Japan tallies its registered aliens by nationality and other status attributes. It also tallies "Chinese" and "Korean" aliens by the province in "China" or "Korea" in which they are presumed to be registered.

"China" and "Korea" as English terms to do not define themselves. See "Kankoku/Chosen" and "Chugoku": Recognition politics and alien nationality in Japan" for details.

Suffice it to say, here, that from 1952, until 1965 when Japan recognized the Republic of Korea (ROK), Korean aliens in Japan were classified as Chosenese, meaning affilaites of "Chosen" as a former Japanese territory. Only after 1965, when Japan recognized the Republic of Korea (ROK), did Japan began using "Kankoku/Chosen" to collectively label the "entity" with which which "Koreans" in Japan were affiliated.

The label "Kankoku/Chosen" means (1) the "Republic of Korea" (Kankoku), which controls the provinces south of the 38th parallel, and (2) the "former Japanese entity of Chosen" (Chosen), which includes all of the provinces on the peninsula, both those under ROK's control, and those under the control of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) north of the 38th parallel.

Drop in 1959-1964 Korean population

Alien registration statistics for 1959 and 1964, for aliens affiliated with Chosen (Kankoku does not yet exist in Japan's eyes), clearly show a sharp decrease in the population of registered Koreans (Chosenese) from 607,533 in 1959 to 578,572 in 1964. The 1964 figure also reflects losses and gains during the five-year interval from deaths, births, and changes of nationality. But it reflects especially the supervised "repatriation" from Japan to North Korea (DPRK) that which began at the end of 1959.

Koreans with registers in provinces of in the south (ROK) dropped 23,844 from 588,784 in 1959 to 564,940 in 1964. Those with registers in provinces in the north (DPRK) dropped 2,229 from 10,342 to 8,113 in the same years. Koreans whose province of registration was uncertain or unknown dropped 2,888 from 8,407 to 5,519.

Note that while the numerical drop in Koreans affiliated with southern provinces was about ten times the drop in either of the other two categories, the percentage of Koreans with southern registers rose from 96.9 in 1959 to 97.6 in 1964. In other words, not only were the vast majority of the "returnees" to "North Korea" affiliated with registers in "South Korea" -- but apparently there were disproportionately more such Koreans among the "repatriates".

The percentage of Koreans with registers in southern provinices continued, generally, to increase into at least the mid 1980s. In 1969, 1974, and 1986 some 98.0, 97.8, and 98.7 percent had registers in southern provinces -- compared with 1.21, 1.19, and 0.69 percent in northern provinces -- while the provinces of 0.79, 1.05, and 0.58 percent were uncertain or unknown.

The percent of Koreans in Japan with southern registers peaked in either the 1980s or 1990s (my data at this point is incomplete). But from no later than 2000, the percent with southern registers has fallen every year, from 98.4 percent in 2000 to 98.0 percent in 2009 -- while the ratio with northern registers has also fallen, from 0.54 to 0.47 -- and the ratio of uncertain or unknown has risen from 1.02 to 1.51.

2009 registration data

As of the end of 2009 -- among 578,495 registered Koreans aliens -- 567,073 (98.0 percent) had registers in ROK provinces. Only 2,691 (0.47 percent) -- about one-third the 1964 count -- had registers in provinces within DPRK's jurisdiction. The provinces of registration of 8,731 (1.51 percent), a considerable increase over the 1964 count, were uncertain or unknown.

Ratios of Southern to Northern registers, and indices of Southern and Nothern registers, shed more light on what the percentages mean. The Southern/Northern ratio has increased every year for which I have data, from 57 in 1959 to 211 in 2009. The apparent four-fold increase in this ratio is most closely related to two facts: (1) while the population of Southern province Koreans somewhat increased during the first decades of this 50-year period, it peaked in 1991, and by 2009 it had fallen to its 1959 level, and (2) during the same half-century, the population of Koreans in northern provinces steadily fell four-fold.

The finer dynamics of the above two facts are clearly reflected in the Southern and Northern indices. The Southern province index, taken as 1.00 in 1959, had fallen to 0.96 by 1964, reflecting mostly the effects of "repatriation" to North Korea in 1960 and 1961. The index then rose again, to above 1.00 in 1969, mainly because of natural increase. The index continued to rise, I would guess to 1991 when the population of Koreans in Japan peaked, after which it began to fall again. In the data I have, from 2000, is has fallen every year, breaking below 1.00 in 2005 and reaching 0.96, the 1964 level, in 2009. The movement of this index is most closely related to the fact that the residual postwar population, after some natural growth, began to level off, then peaked and began to decline, and by the early 1990s its rate of decline was faster than the rate of increase of the non-residual populationin postwar migrants mainly from ROK.

The Northern province index, taken as 1.00 in 1959, has decreased in every year for which I have data, to 0.26 in 2009. Unlike the Southern province population, the Northern province population has not increased through postwar migration. Rather it has been depleted, partly by "repatriation" to North Korea, but mostly be migration to Southern province registers, naturalization to Japan, and death.

All of the above north/south provincial figures and percents are my computations from published alien registration reports.

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