Photo = Yonhap News

Donghae, Gangwon-do Province | March 17, 2023

Ethnic Koreans from the island of Sakhalin in Russian Far East on the afternoon of March 17 leave the arrival section after finishing immigration procedures at the international passenger terminal of the Port of Donghae in Donghae, Gangwon-do Province. The first-generation Koreans were forced to relocate to Sakhalin during Japan's occupation of the Korean Peninsula and could not return home after their motherland's liberation, but will resettle permanently in Korea with their families. Among the 63 returnees, four are from the first generation and 59 from the second, with the oldest member born in 1935. Because of airspace restrictions due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, they departed from Vladivostok on a passenger ship.