The Korean War (1950–1953) brought about a sharp division between members of Chongryon and Mindan, with each organization strongly supporting the North or South respectively.

However, Mindan steered away from advocating full assimilation into Japanese society, instead promoting their minority status among members through emphasizing introspection.

It has also been occasionally threatened by extreme right-wing organizations; in one incident in 2010, the Kyoto branch of Mindan cancelled a lecture due to the threat of Zaitokutai protesters interfering with the event.

One reason for this trend included how Mindan was primarily viewed as unreceptive to lower class Koreans in Japan at the time.

[3][6] Beginning in the 1960s, Mindan’s primary goals shifted from expressing loyalty to their homeland on the Korean peninsula to seeking permanent residency in Japan.

It has assisted Zainichi Koreans pursuing Japanese citizenship by overseeing the removal of biometric identification for foreign registration in Japan.

Through efforts to promote Koreans in Japan like demonstrations and petitions, as well as recruiting youth activists, Mindan has been credited with combatting discriminatory attitudes among Japanese people.

The curriculum in these schools centers on providing a normalized Japanese education for students and developing Korean language proficiency.

In one incident in 2017, Mindan helped push support for the relocation of a statue in front of the Japanese consulate in Busan, South Korea’s second largest city, said to symbolize World War II-era sexual abuse of Korean women by Japan.