aside from north korean citizens living in russia, there has also historically been significant migration from the northern provinces of korea, especially hamgyong, to the russian far east; this population of migrants became known as the "koryo-saram". 65% of the sakhalin koreans also took up north korean citizenship in the 1950s and 1960s in order to avoid statelessness; roughly one thousand even repatriated to north korea, though their ancestral homes were in the southern half of the korean peninsula. in addition, various senior members of the workers' party of korea, including kim il-sung himself, lived in russia prior to korean independence and the establishment of north korea.