The group had been sailing for five days towards South Korea but had drifted towards the Noto Peninsula and thought they had arrived in South Korea. They were found in good health. Japan resettled about 140 ethnic Koreans who managed to return to Japan after initially immigrating to North Korea under the 1959–1984 mass "repatriation" project of ethnic Koreans from Japan. This supposed humanitarian project, supported by Chongryon and conducted by the Japanese and North Korean Red Crosses, had involved the resettlement of around 90,000 volunteers (mostly from South Korea) in North Korea, which Chongryon hailed as a "paradise on earth". Some of the Koreans who were repatriated, including Kim Hyon-hui, a student of Yaeko Taguchi, revealed evidence about the whereabouts of Japanese citizens who had been kidnapped by North Korea. Laos Public Radio International reported in 2011 that Laos, along with Vietnam and Myanmar, were largely unsympathetic to North Korean refugees. In 2013 nine defectors were arrested and sent back to North Korea causing international outrage partially because one of the defectors is the son of a Japanese abductee. Mongolia A much shorter route than the standard China-Laos-Thailand route is straight to Mongolia, whose government tries to maintain good relations with both North and South Korea but is sympathetic to North Korean refugees. North Korean refugees who are caught in Mongolia are sent to South Korea, effectively granting them a free air ticket. However, using this route requires navigating the unforgiving terrain of the Gobi Desert. Also, tighter border control with China has made this route less common. Philippines The Philippines has in the past been used as a transit point for North Korean refugees, often arriving from China and then being sent on to South Korea. A 2005 US embassy cable released by WikiLeaks suggested that for 2 years, the South Korean embassy in Beijing facilitated the transit of nearly 500 refugees annually to Ninoy Aquino International Airport for transfer to South Korea. As of 2010, there are 4,846 North Koreans in the Philippines. The country has been hard to reach due to the fact refugees have to cross China and get on a boat to the island chain nation. Russia A study by Kyung Hee University estimated that roughly 10,000 North Koreans live in the Russian Far East; many are escapees from North Korean work camps there. Both South Korean diplomatic missions and local ethnic Koreans are