North Korea
Japan tried to suppress Korean traditions and culture and ran the economy primarily for its own benefit. Korean resistance groups known as Dongnipgun (Liberation Army) operated along the Sino-Korean border, fighting guerrilla warfare against Japanese forces. Some of them took part in allied action in China and parts of South East Asia. One of the guerrilla leaders was the communist Kim Il-sung, who later became the first leader of North Korea.
Vyatskoye, Khabarovsk Krai
During World War II near Vyatskoye was a camp for the Soviet 88th Brigade, which was made up of Korean and Chinese guerrillas. Kim Il-sung, future leader of North Korea, was stationed there as a Captain in the Soviet Red Army commanding a battalion, and according to some sources his family was there as well. According to those same sources his son Kim Jong-il was born there on February 16, 1941 (although the North Korean government claims Kim Jong-il was born on Paektu Mountain in Japanese Korea a year later, on February 16, 1942). Residents of the town claim that his brother Shura Kim (sometimes known as the first Kim Pyong-il) fell into a well and died, and was buried there; however other sources claim that Kim Jong-il's sibling drowned in a pool in Pyongyang in 1947.