A group of 106 Korean residents of Japan will make a six-day homecoming to South Korea beginning Nov. 17, the second delegation organized by the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryun), association sources said Monday.
The sources said 14 Chongryun officials will accompany the residents on their visit. The first delegation organized by Chongryun went to South Korea in September with 50 Korean residents in Japan participating.
During the visit, the Korean residents are expected to meet their relatives and visit family graves for the first time in half a century.
Most Korean residents in Japan who were forcibly brought to the country before and during World War II are believed to hail from areas now in South Korea.
Since 1975, the pro-Seoul Korean Residents Union in Japan (Mindan) has arranged trips for a total of 50,000 residents to South Korea, including a number of those who say they support North Korea.
Some Korean residents, however, have refused to go on trips led by the pro-Seoul organization.
The new visit comes after South and North Korea agreed during ministerial talks in July in Seoul to encourage visits to the South by pro-Pyongyang Koreans living in Japan.
In September, 50 first-generation Korean residents met parents and visited family graves after a half-century separation.