Japanese people in North Korea consist mainly of four groups of people: prisoners-of-war in the Soviet Union, Japanese accompanying repatriating Zainichi Korean spouses, members of the Japanese Communist League-Red Army Faction, and kidnap victims. The number who remain alive is not known.
In 1945, with the end of World War II and the collapse of the Empire of Japan, 200,000 Japanese colonists were stranded north of the 38th parallel; however, they were repatriated to Japan soon after.