Foreigners in Korea
Encyclopedia
Foreigners in Korea have never been a large portion of the population. Following the partition of Korea in the aftermath of the Korean War
, the percent of foreigners in South Korea
has risen to 2% of the total population, while North Korea
remains racially homogeneous with a small ethnic Chinese
community and a few ethnic Japanese
.
is widely referred to as a "hermit kingdom
" for sealing itself off from foreign influence. Joseon diplomacy
mainly involved the Sadae
("serving the great") policy toward Imperial China
. Concurrently maintained (and jointly referred to as "serving the great and relations with neighbor policy" Hangul
: 사대교린 정책 Hanja
: 事大交隣政策) was the Gyorin
policy of amicable relations with neighboring countries
; however this did not result in significant influx of foreign persons but rather sporadic trade delegations and diplomatic missions: envoys form the Ryūkyū Kingdom
were received by Taejo of Joseon
in 1392, 1394 and 1397. Siam sent an envoy to Taejo's court in 1393.
The Joseon kingdom made every effort to maintain a friendly bilateral relationship with China for reasons having to do with both realpolitik
and a more idealist Confucian worldview wherein China was seen as the center of a Confucian moral universe.
In the fifth through tenth centuries, Arabs sailed the Indian Ocean
, and Arab merchants and sailors eventually landed in Korea during the Silla dynasty. These contacts eventually broke off starting in the 15th century, resulting in the Arabs' eventual assimilation
into the Korean population.
are often tense and unpredictable. Since the Korean Armistice Agreement ended the Korean War
in 1953, the North Korean government has been largely isolationist, becoming one of the world's most authoritarian societies. While no formal peace treaty exists between North and South Korea, both diplomatic discussions and clashes have occurred between the two. North Korea has maintained close relations with China and often limited ones with other nations. They have banned all media from other countries (such as video games, newspapers, and goods), especially South Korea
and the United States
, and smuggling these products is illegal. The number of foreign residents is correspondingly very small, and is essentially limited to Japanese spouses of "repatriating" Zainichi Koreans
, expatriates from the People's Republic of China, foreign diplomats, and a few defectors such as James Joseph Dresnok
and Joseph T. White
.
is among the world's most ethnically homogeneous nations. Those who do not share such features are often rejected by the Korean society or face racial discrimination, especially people of color.
Since the end of the Korean War
in 1953, South Korea has been far more open to foreign, especially American, influence than its northern brother.
South Korea is a homogeneous society with absolute majority of the population of Korean ethnicity. In 1970, an estimated 120,000 Chinese resided in South Korea. However, due to economic restrictions by the South Korean government, the number may have fallen to as low as 21,000. In the 10-year period starting in the late 1990s, the number of Chinese in Korea exploded. It is estimated that there are at least 300,000 and possibly more than 1,000,000 Chinese citizens living in South Korea as permanent residents or illegal immigrants, including Joseonjok
(Hangul: 조선족 Hanja: , Chinese citizens of Korean descent) and Han Chinese
. There is a large Chinese community in Seoul's southwestern area (Daerim/Namguro) and a smaller but established community in Seongnam
. Ethnic Chinese in Korea
, known as Hwagyo (Hangul: 화교 Hanja
: 華僑) by the Koreans, distrusts ordinary Koreans and tend to avoid those unfamiliar to them.
There are migrant worker
s from Southeast Asia
and increasingly from Central Asia
(notably Uzbekistan
, mostly ethnic Koreans
from there, and Mongolians
), and in the main cities, particularly Seoul
, there is a small but growing number of foreigners related to business and education. The number of marriages between Koreans and foreigners
has risen steadily in the past few years. In 2005, 14% of all marriages in South Korea were marriages to foreigners (about 26,000 marriages); most were rural Korean men marrying Asian women from poor backgrounds. Korean men in age brackets up to their 40s outnumber slightly younger Korean women, both due to a high sex ratio and the drop in the birth rate
since the 1960s, leading to a huge demand for wives. Many Korean agencies encourage 'international' marriages to Chinese
, Vietnamese
, Filipina
, Indonesian, and Thai women, adding a new degree of complexity to the issue of ethnicity.
The number of expatriate English teachers hailing from English-speaking nations has increased from less than 1,000 in 1988 to over 20,000 in 2002, and stands at more than 22,000.
There are 28,500 United States
military personnel and civilian employees
throughout the country, an increasing number of whom are also accompanied by family members.
There were more than 854,000 total foreigners in South Korea in 2008, including migrant workers, English teachers, and imported brides.
Most Koreans still believe that their population is of a single racial bloodline, and Korean media sometimes create the impression that foreigners are dangerous, including requiring HIV/AIDS tests for non-ethnic Korean foreigners who work in South Korea.
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
, the percent of foreigners in South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
has risen to 2% of the total population, while North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
remains racially homogeneous with a small ethnic Chinese
Ethnic Chinese
Ethnic Chinese may refer to:*Han Chinese, the dominant ethnic group in the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, Macao, the Republic of China and Singapore....
community and a few ethnic Japanese
Ethnic Japanese
Ethnic Japanese may mean:* Japanese people, when referring to people of Japanese descent** May also be used as a term to refer to the Yamato people as opposed to the minority peoples of Japan: the Ainu, Ryukyuans, Burakumin and immigrant groups such as the Han Chinese and Koreans.* Japanese...
.
History
King Gojong called foreigners "uneducated louts," motivated by "lechery and sensuality." The Joseon DynastyJoseon Dynasty
Joseon , was a Korean state founded by Taejo Yi Seong-gye that lasted for approximately five centuries. It was founded in the aftermath of the overthrow of the Goryeo at what is today the city of Kaesong. Early on, Korea was retitled and the capital was relocated to modern-day Seoul...
is widely referred to as a "hermit kingdom
Hermit kingdom
Hermit kingdom is a pejorative term applied to any country or society which willfully walls itself off from the rest of the world. The Joseon Dynasty of Korea was frequently described as a hermit kingdom during the latter part of the dynasty...
" for sealing itself off from foreign influence. Joseon diplomacy
Joseon diplomacy
Joseon diplomacy was the foreign policy of Joseon Dynasty of Korea from 1392 through 1910; and its theoretical and functional foundations were rooted in Neo-Confucian scholar-bureaucrats, institutions and philosophy....
mainly involved the Sadae
Sadae
Sadae is a Korean historical and philosophical term.It may also refer to:* Sadae , a governmental office of Taebong* Sadaejuui , a modern Korean polemical term...
("serving the great") policy toward Imperial China
Imperial China
Imperial China may refer to:* Imperial era of Chinese history , divided into three major periods:** Early Imperial China** Mid-Imperial China** Late Imperial China...
. Concurrently maintained (and jointly referred to as "serving the great and relations with neighbor policy" Hangul
Hangul
Hangul,Pronounced or ; Korean: 한글 Hangeul/Han'gŭl or 조선글 Chosŏn'gŭl/Joseongeul the Korean alphabet, is the native alphabet of the Korean language. It is a separate script from Hanja, the logographic Chinese characters which are also sometimes used to write Korean...
: 사대교린 정책 Hanja
Hanja
Hanja is the Korean name for the Chinese characters hanzi. More specifically, it refers to those Chinese characters borrowed from Chinese and incorporated into the Korean language with Korean pronunciation...
: 事大交隣政策) was the Gyorin
Gyorin
Gyorin was a neo-Confucian term developed in Joseon Korea. The term was intended to identify and characterize a diplomatic policy which establishes and maintains amicable relations with neighboring states...
policy of amicable relations with neighboring countries
East Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
; however this did not result in significant influx of foreign persons but rather sporadic trade delegations and diplomatic missions: envoys form the Ryūkyū Kingdom
Ryukyu Kingdom
The Ryūkyū Kingdom was an independent kingdom which ruled most of the Ryukyu Islands from the 15th century to the 19th century. The Kings of Ryūkyū unified Okinawa Island and extended the kingdom to the Amami Islands in modern-day Kagoshima Prefecture, and the Sakishima Islands near Taiwan...
were received by Taejo of Joseon
Taejo of Joseon
Taejo of Joseon , born Yi Seong-gye, whose changed name is Yi Dan, was the founder and the first king of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea, and the main figure in overthrowing the Goryeo Dynasty...
in 1392, 1394 and 1397. Siam sent an envoy to Taejo's court in 1393.
The Joseon kingdom made every effort to maintain a friendly bilateral relationship with China for reasons having to do with both realpolitik
Realpolitik
Realpolitik refers to politics or diplomacy based primarily on power and on practical and material factors and considerations, rather than ideological notions or moralistic or ethical premises...
and a more idealist Confucian worldview wherein China was seen as the center of a Confucian moral universe.
In the fifth through tenth centuries, Arabs sailed the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
, and Arab merchants and sailors eventually landed in Korea during the Silla dynasty. These contacts eventually broke off starting in the 15th century, resulting in the Arabs' eventual assimilation
Cultural assimilation
Cultural assimilation is a socio-political response to demographic multi-ethnicity that supports or promotes the assimilation of ethnic minorities into the dominant culture. The term assimilation is often used with regard to immigrants and various ethnic groups who have settled in a new land. New...
into the Korean population.
North Korea
The foreign relations of North KoreaNorth Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
are often tense and unpredictable. Since the Korean Armistice Agreement ended the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
in 1953, the North Korean government has been largely isolationist, becoming one of the world's most authoritarian societies. While no formal peace treaty exists between North and South Korea, both diplomatic discussions and clashes have occurred between the two. North Korea has maintained close relations with China and often limited ones with other nations. They have banned all media from other countries (such as video games, newspapers, and goods), especially South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and smuggling these products is illegal. The number of foreign residents is correspondingly very small, and is essentially limited to Japanese spouses of "repatriating" Zainichi Koreans
Japanese people in North Korea
Japanese people in North Korea consist mainly of four groups: prisoners-of-war in the Soviet Union, Japanese accompanying repatriating Zainichi Korean spouses, defectors, and kidnapping victims...
, expatriates from the People's Republic of China, foreign diplomats, and a few defectors such as James Joseph Dresnok
James Joseph Dresnok
James Joseph Dresnok is an American defector to North Korea, one of six American soldiers to defect after the Korean War. He was featured on the CBS magazine program 60 Minutes on January 28, 2007, as the last United States defector alive in North Korea and was the subject of a documentary film...
and Joseph T. White
Joseph T. White
Joseph T. White born in St. Louis, Missouri, was a private in the United States Army who defected to North Korea on August 28, 1982. A member of 1/31st Infantry, he shot the lock off one of the gates leading into the Korean Demilitarized Zone and was witnessed surrendering to North Korean troops...
.
South Korea
South KoreaSouth Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
is among the world's most ethnically homogeneous nations. Those who do not share such features are often rejected by the Korean society or face racial discrimination, especially people of color.
Since the end of the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
in 1953, South Korea has been far more open to foreign, especially American, influence than its northern brother.
South Korea is a homogeneous society with absolute majority of the population of Korean ethnicity. In 1970, an estimated 120,000 Chinese resided in South Korea. However, due to economic restrictions by the South Korean government, the number may have fallen to as low as 21,000. In the 10-year period starting in the late 1990s, the number of Chinese in Korea exploded. It is estimated that there are at least 300,000 and possibly more than 1,000,000 Chinese citizens living in South Korea as permanent residents or illegal immigrants, including Joseonjok
Ethnic Chinese in Korea
There has been a recognisable community of Chinese people in Korea since the 1880s. Most early migrants came from Shandong province on the east coast of China; many of them and their descendants have emigrated...
(Hangul: 조선족 Hanja: , Chinese citizens of Korean descent) and Han Chinese
Han Chinese
Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...
. There is a large Chinese community in Seoul's southwestern area (Daerim/Namguro) and a smaller but established community in Seongnam
Seongnam
Seongnam is the second largest city in South Korea's Gyeonggi province after Suwon and the 9th largest city in the country, with a population of nearly 1 million...
. Ethnic Chinese in Korea
Ethnic Chinese in Korea
There has been a recognisable community of Chinese people in Korea since the 1880s. Most early migrants came from Shandong province on the east coast of China; many of them and their descendants have emigrated...
, known as Hwagyo (Hangul: 화교 Hanja
Hanja
Hanja is the Korean name for the Chinese characters hanzi. More specifically, it refers to those Chinese characters borrowed from Chinese and incorporated into the Korean language with Korean pronunciation...
: 華僑) by the Koreans, distrusts ordinary Koreans and tend to avoid those unfamiliar to them.
There are migrant worker
Migrant worker
The term migrant worker has different official meanings and connotations in different parts of the world. The United Nations' definition is broad, including any people working outside of their home country...
s from Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
and increasingly from Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
(notably Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
, mostly ethnic Koreans
Koryo-saram
Koryo-saram is the name which ethnic Koreans in the post-Soviet states use to refer to themselves. Approximately 500,000 ethnic Koreans reside in the former Soviet Union, primarily in the now-independent states of Central Asia. There are also large Korean communities in southern Russia , the...
from there, and Mongolians
Mongolians in South Korea
Mongols in South Korea form the world's largest population of Mongolian citizens abroad.-Population:By 2003, there were already 20,000 Mongols working in South Korea, making their population larger than the combined total of Mongolian Americans, Mongolians in Japan, and Mongolians in Europe...
), and in the main cities, particularly Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
, there is a small but growing number of foreigners related to business and education. The number of marriages between Koreans and foreigners
Marriage in South Korea
Marriage in South Korea is similar to that in the West, but has unique features of its own, especially due to the influence of Korean Confucianism.-Eligibility:Marriage in South Korea is a union between a man and a woman...
has risen steadily in the past few years. In 2005, 14% of all marriages in South Korea were marriages to foreigners (about 26,000 marriages); most were rural Korean men marrying Asian women from poor backgrounds. Korean men in age brackets up to their 40s outnumber slightly younger Korean women, both due to a high sex ratio and the drop in the birth rate
Birth rate
Crude birth rate is the nativity or childbirths per 1,000 people per year . Another word used interchangeably with "birth rate" is "natality". When the crude birth rate is subtracted from the crude death rate, it reveals the rate of natural increase...
since the 1960s, leading to a huge demand for wives. Many Korean agencies encourage 'international' marriages to Chinese
Ethnic Chinese in Korea
There has been a recognisable community of Chinese people in Korea since the 1880s. Most early migrants came from Shandong province on the east coast of China; many of them and their descendants have emigrated...
, Vietnamese
Vietnamese people in Korea
Vietnamese people in Korea have a history going back to the latter days of Vietnam's Lý Dynasty; several princes of Ly sought refuge with the kingdom of Goryeo. After the division of Korea and the Korean War, Vietnamese people had various contacts with both North and South Korea...
, Filipina
Filipinos in South Korea
Filipinos in South Korea have a history dating back to the establishment of South Korea. Many live in Seoul, where they gather in the Hyehwa-dong and Dongsung-dong areas of Jongno-gu.-Migration history:...
, Indonesian, and Thai women, adding a new degree of complexity to the issue of ethnicity.
The number of expatriate English teachers hailing from English-speaking nations has increased from less than 1,000 in 1988 to over 20,000 in 2002, and stands at more than 22,000.
There are 28,500 United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
military personnel and civilian employees
United States Forces Korea
United States Forces Korea refers to the ground, air and naval divisions of the United States armed forces stationed in South Korea....
throughout the country, an increasing number of whom are also accompanied by family members.
There were more than 854,000 total foreigners in South Korea in 2008, including migrant workers, English teachers, and imported brides.
Most Koreans still believe that their population is of a single racial bloodline, and Korean media sometimes create the impression that foreigners are dangerous, including requiring HIV/AIDS tests for non-ethnic Korean foreigners who work in South Korea.
External links
- Korean Statistical Information System
- South Korea: Balancing Labor Demand with Strict Controls, Park Young-bum, Migration Information Source, December 2004.