The museum covers both major historical events and the daily lives of Zainichi Koreans from the late Joseon period to the present day.

[2] The first exhibit covers the lives of Korean people in Japan before the liberation of Korea from Japanese colonial rule.

[1] A third exhibition room covers the daily lives and careers of Zainichi Koreans throughout time.

The increasing amount of historical materials meant that a dedicated space was needed for their storage and preservation.

In 1995, on the 50th anniversary of Korea's liberation, Park Gyeong-sik (박경식), a Japanese Korean historian, launched a campaign to create a museum, but it failed to gain traction.

[1][3] A breakthrough came in 2002, when Mindan (also called the Korean Residents Union in Japan) pledged financial support for the museum.

The term Joseon ("Chōsen" in Japanese) is used in the official name for North Korea and also by a number of historical states.

[1][3] Despite its efforts to appeal to South Korean visitors, the museum is relatively unknown to both them and to the general Japanese public.