Jung Da Min of the Korea Times wrote that the article "was written on the occasion of U.S. university students' visit to the pro-Pyongyang Korea University in the Japanese capital, and highlighted improving relations between the two countries on the government and non-government level." It further noted that "Professor Ford also held an English lecture for students of the two universities on the subject of the history of North Koreans in Japan over the past 70 years following liberation from Japanese occupation."