Koryo-saram

Koryo-saram(Koryo-mar:고려사람;Russian:Корё сарам) orKoryoin(Korean:고려인) are ethnicKoreansof theformer Soviet Union, who descend from Koreans that were living in theRussian Far East.
Koreans first began settling in the Russian Far East in the late 19th century. Their numbers increased as Koreans fled theJapanese colonization of Korea beginning in 1910. A number of Koryo-saram became significantKorean independence activists, such asHong Beom-doandChŏng Sangjin. In 1937,they were all deportedtoCentral Asia. They have since dispersed throughout the former Soviet Union, with significant populations inSiberia,Uzbekistan, andKazakhstan.
Approximately 500,000 Koryo-saram reside in the former Soviet Union, primarily in the now-independent states of Central Asia. There are also large Korean communities inSouthern Russia(aroundVolgograd), the Russian Far East (aroundVladivostok), theCaucasus,Kyrgyzstan,Turkmenistan, and southernUkraine. While the ability to speak Korean has become increasingly rare amongst modern Koryo-saram, they have retained some elements of Korean culture, includingKorean names.Koryo-saram cuisinehas become popular throughout the former Soviet Union, with the dishmorkovchanow widely available in grocery stores there. A significant number of Koryo-saram have either moved temporarily or permanently to South Korea for economic or cultural reasons. TheRusso-Ukrainian War, especially the 2022Russian invasion of Ukraine, has motivated several thousandKorean Ukrainiansto move toSouth Koreafor safety.
Sakhalin Koreansalso exist on the island ofSakhalinin Russia, but they are often considered a separate ethnic group. They arrived whenSakhalin was partially under Japanese rule, and were never subjected to the forced deportation to Central Asia. Some of them identify as Koryo-saram, but many do not. This has led to the termmaterikovye(материковые) for Koryo-saram, meaning "continentals".
The term by which they refer to themselves is composed of two Korean words: "Koryo", a historical name for Korea, and "saram", meaning "person" or "people".
The wordKoryoin "Koryo-saram" originated from the name of theGoryeo (Koryŏ) Dynastyfrom which "Korea" was also derived. The nameSoviet Koreanwas also used, more frequently before the collapse of the Soviet Union.Russians may also lump Koryo-saram under the general labelkoreytsy(корейцы); however, this usage makes no distinctions between ethnic Koreans of the local nationality and the Korean nationals (citizens of North Korea or South Korea).
In Standard Korean, the term "Koryo-saram" is typically used to refer to historical figures from the Goryeo dynasty; to avoid ambiguity, Korean speakers use a wordGoryeoin(고려인;高麗人, meaning the same as "Koryo-saram") to refer to ethnic Koreans in the post-Soviet states.However, theSino-Koreanmorpheme "-in" (인;人) is notproductiveinKoryo-mal, the dialect spoken by Koryo-saram and as a result, only a few (mainly those who have studied Standard Korean) refer to themselves by this name; instead, "Koryo-saram" has come to be the preferred term.
The early 19th century saw the decline of the KoreanJoseon dynasty. A small population of wealthy elite owned the farmlands in the country, and poor peasants found it difficult to survive. Koreans leaving the country in this period were obliged to move toward Russia, as the border with China was sealed by theQing Dynasty.However, the first Koreans in the Russian Empire, 761 families totalling 5,310 people, had actually migrated to Qing territory; the land they had settled on was ceded to Russia by theConvention of Pekingin 1860.Many peasants consideredSiberiato be a land where they could lead better lives, and so they subsequently migrated there. According to Russian sources early as 1863, 13 Korean households were recorded inPosyet, near Bay of Novgorod.These numbers rose dramatically, and by 1869 Koreans composed 20% of the population of thePrimorsky Krai.Prior to the completion of theTrans-Siberian Railway, Koreans outnumbered Russians in theRussian Far East; the local governors encouraged them to naturalize.The village ofBlagoslovennoewas founded in 1870 by Korean migrants.Another Korean village nearZolotoy Rogthat Russians called Koreyskaya slabodka (Корейская слабодка, literally means Korean village) and what Koreans called "Gaecheok-ri" (開拓里,개척리) was officially recognized by the Vladivostok authorities.The 1897Russian Empire Censusfound 26,005 Korean speakers (16,225 men and 9,780 women) in the whole of Russia.
In the early 20th century, both Russia and Korea came into conflict with Japan. Following the end of theRusso-Japanese Warin 1907, Russia enacted an anti-Korean law at the behest of Japan, under which the land of Korean farmers was confiscated and Korean labourers were laid off.However, Korean migration to Russia continued to grow; 1914 figures showed 64,309 Koreans (among whom 20,109 were Russian citizens). Even the 1917Bolshevik Revolutiondid nothing to slow migration; after the repression of the 1919March First MovementinJapanese-colonised Korea, migration actually intensified.Korean leaders inVladivostok'sSinhanch'on(literally, "New Korean Village") neighbourhood also provided support to the independence movement, making it a centre for nationalist activities, including arms supply; theJapanese attacked it on 4 April 1920, leaving hundreds dead.By 1923, the Korean population in the Soviet Union had grown to 106,817. The following year, the Soviets began taking measures to control Korean population movement to their territory; however, they were not completely successful until 1931; after that date, they halted all migration from Korea and required existing migrants to naturalise as Soviet citizens.
The Soviet policy ofkorenizatsiya(indigenisation) resulted in the creation of 105 Korean villagesoviets(councils) in mixed-nationalityraion, as well as an entireraionfor the Korean nationality, the Pos'et Korean National Raion; these conducted their activities entirely in theKorean language. The Soviet Koreans had a large number of their own official institutions, including 380 Korean schools, two teachers' colleges, one pedagogical school, three hospitals, a theatre, six journals, and seven newspapers (the largest of which,Vanguard, had a circulation of 10,000). The1937 Censusshowed 168,259 Koreans in the Soviet Union. However, officials in the Russian Far East viewed the Koreans' ethnic and family ties to the Japanese Empire with suspicion, which would soon set the stage for the deportation of the whole population.
In 1937, facing reports from thePeople's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD)that there were possibilities that Japanese would have infiltrate the Russian Far East by means of ethnic Korean spies,Joseph StalinandVyacheslav Molotovsigned Resolution 1428-326 ss, "On the Exile of the Korean Population from borderRaionsof the Far East Kray", on 21 August.According to the report ofNikolai Yezhov, 36,442 Korean families totalling 171,781 persons were deported by 25 October.The deported Koreans faced difficult conditions in Central Asia: monetary assistance promised by the government never materialised, and furthermore, most of the deported were rice farmers and fishermen, who had difficulty adapting to the arid climate of their new home. Estimates based on population statistics suggest that 40,000 deported Koreans died in 1937 and 1938 for these reasons.Nonetheless, the deportees cooperated to build irrigation works and start rice farms; within three years, they had recovered their original standard of living.
The events of this period led to the formation of a cohesive identity among the Korean deportees.However, in schools for Soviet Korean children, the government switched Korean language from being themedium of instructionto being taught merely as a second language in 1939, and from 1945 stopped it from being taught entirely; furthermore, the only publication in the Korean language was theLenin Kichi(now calledKoryo Ilbo). As a result, subsequent generations lost the use of the Korean language, which J. Otto Pohl described as "emasculat[ing] the expression of Korean culture in the Soviet Union.Up until the era ofglasnost, it was not permitted to speak openly of the deportations.
During the August to September 1945 Soviet military campaign to liberate Korea, Koryo-saramChŏng Sangjinwas the only ethnic Korean who had a combat role on the Soviet side. He notably participated in theSeishin Operation.Chŏng and a number of other Koryo-saram joined North Korea after thedivision of Korea. Some Koryo-saram, includingPak Chang-ok, became key figures in that government, where they formed afaction of Soviet Koreans.However, in the mid-1950s, Kim Il Sung purged many Soviet-aligned Korean people, which led to the expulsion of a number of Koryo-saram from the North. Several of them, including Chŏng, returned to Central Asia and continued writing for theLenin Kichi.
Scholars estimatedthat roughly 470,000 Koryo-saram were living in theCommonwealth of Independent States.
The2002 censusgave a population of 148,556 Koreans in Russia, of which 75,835 were male and 72,721 female.More than half were living inAsian Russia. Meanwhile, the2010 censusgave a population of 153,156 Koreans in Russia, this time more than half were living inEuropean Russiainstead, butRussian Far Eastremained the federal district with highest number of Koreans. The Korean population there trace their roots back to a variety of sources. Aside from roughly 33,000CISnationals, mostly migrants retracing in reverse the 1937 deportation of their ancestors, between 4,000 and 12,000North Korean migrant labourerscan be found in the region. Smaller numbers of South Koreans andethnic Koreans from Chinahave also come to the region to settle, invest, and/or engage in cross-border trade.
In the Ukrainian2001 census, 12,711 people defined themselves as ethnic Koreans, up from 8,669 in 1989. Of these only 17.5% gave Korean as their native language. The majority (76%) namedRussianas their native language, while 5.5% namedUkrainian.The largest concentrations can be found inKharkiv,Kyiv,Odesa,Mykolaiv,Cherkasy,Lviv,Luhansk,Donetsk,Dnipro,ZaporizhiaandCrimea. The largest ethnic representative body, the Association of Koreans in Ukraine, is located in Kharkiv, where roughly 150 Korean families reside; the firstKorean languageschool was opened in 1996 under their direction.Some of the most famous Korean-Ukrainians areVitalii Kim, current governor ofMykolaiv Oblast,Pavlo Lee, actor killed inRusso-Ukrainian war, andOleksandr Sin, former mayor ofZaporizhzhia.After 2001, many Koreans migrated into Ukraine from Central Asia.
The majority of Koryo-saram in Central Asia reside inKazakhstanandUzbekistan. Korean culture in Kazakhstan is centered inAlmaty, the former capital. For much of the 20th century, this was the only place in Central Asia where a Korean language newspaper (theKoryo Ilbo) and Korean language theater (Korean Theatre of Kazakhstan) were in operation.The censuses of Kazakhstan recorded 96,500 Koryo-saram in 1939, 74,000 in 1959, 81,600 in 1970, 92,000 in 1979, 100,700 in 1989, and 99,700 in 1999.
InKyrgyzstan, the population has remained roughly stable over the past three censuses: 18,355 (1989), 19,784 (1999), and 17,299 (2009).This contrasts sharply with other non-indigenous groups such asGermans, many of whommigrated to Germanyafter the breakup of the Soviet Union. South Korea never had any programme to promote return migration of their diaspora in Central Asia, unlike Germany. However, they have established organisations to promote Korean language and culture, such as the Korean Centre of Education which opened in Bishkek in 2001. South Korean Christian missionaries are also active in the country.
The population in Uzbekistan is largely scattered in rural areas. This population has suffered in recent years from linguistic handicaps, as the Koryo-saram there spokeRussianbut notUzbek. After the independence ofUzbekistan, many lost their jobs due to being unable to speak the national language. Some emigrated to theRussian Far East, but found life difficult there as well.
There is also a small Korean community inTajikistan. Mass settlement of Koreans in the country began during the late 1950s and early 1960s, after the loosening of restrictions on their freedom of movement which had previously kept them confined to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Pull factors for migration included rich natural resources and a relatively mild climate. Their population grew to 2,400 in 1959, 11,000 in 1979 and 13,000 in 1989; most lived in the capitalDushanbe, with smaller concentrations inQurghonteppaandKhujand. Like Koreans in other parts of Central Asia, they generally possessed higher incomes compared to members of other ethnic groups. However, with the May 1992 onset ofcivil war in Tajikistan, many fled the country; by 1996, their population had fallen by over half to 6,300 people.Most are engaged in agriculture and retail business.Violence continued even after the end of the civil war; in 2000, suspectedHizb ut-Tahrirmembers exploded a bomb in a Korean Christian church in Dushanbe, killing 9 and wounding 30.
There was some minor return migration of Soviet Koreans to Korea in the first half of the 20th century. They formed four main groups: thosesent for intelligence workduring theJapanese colonial period, the Red Army personnel who arrived in 1945–1946, civilian advisors and teachers who arrived in the northern half of the peninsula in 1946–1948 and individuals who repatriated from the Soviet Union to North Korea for personal reasons.Though it was common in most of the newly socialist countries of theEastern Blocto receive Soviet-educated personnel who were from the country or had ancestral ethnic connections there, in North Korea such returned members of national diaspora played a more important role than in other countries.
Later, labour migration to South Korea would grow to a large size. As of 2005, as many as 10,000 Uzbekistani nationals worked in South Korea, with most of them being ethnic Koreans. It is estimated thatremittancesfrom South Korea to Uzbekistan exceed $100 million annually.
A number of Koryo-saram communities now exist in South Korea, includingTtaetgol Village,Gwangju Koryoin Village,Hambak Village,Texas Street,andCentral Asia Streetin Seoul.Several of these communities are also host to Russian speakers of other ethnicities.
Koryo-saram have consistently reported feeling social isolation or even employment discriminationwhen in Korea.The experience of returnees has been portrayed in media, such as the 2011 filmHanaan, by Koryo-saram director Ruslan Pak.
After their arrival in Central Asia, the Koryo-saram quickly established a way of life different from that of neighbouring peoples. They set up irrigation works and became known throughout the region as rice farmers.They interacted little with the nomadic peoples around them and focused on education. Although they soon ceased to weartraditional Korean clothing, they adopted Western-style dress rather than the clothing worn by the Central Asian peoples.
The ritual life of the Koryo-saram community has changed in various respects. Marriages have taken on the Russian style.AtKorean traditional funerals, the coffin is taken out of the house either through the window or a single door threshold; however, if there is more than one door threshold on the way out (e.g. in modern multi-stories buildings), three notches are made on each threshold.The name of the dead is traditionally written inhanja; however, as hardly anyone is left among the Koryo-saram who can write in hanja, the name is generally written inhangulonly. On the other hand, the rituals for the first birthday and sixtieth anniversary have been preserved in their traditional form.
In New York City, United States, there is theAll Nations Baptist Church, a Russian-speaking Christian church for Koryo-saram.
The cuisine of the Koryo-saram is closest to that of theHamgyong provincesin North Korea and is dominated by meat soups and salty side dishes.It uses similar cooking techniques but is adapted to local ingredients, which resulted in invention of new dishes. One well-known example ismorkovcha, a variant ofkimchithat uses carrots. It has become popular in many parts of the former Soviet Union.
Other examples of dishes includepyanse,kuksu,funchoza,timpeni,khe,chartagi,kadi che(가지채),kosari che,chirgym che,siryak-tyamuri,andkadyuri.
Many Korean surnames, when Cyrillized, are spelled and pronounced slightly differently from the romanisations used in the U.S. and the resulting common pronunciations, as can be seen in the table at right. Some surnames of Koryo-saram have a particle "gai" added to them, such as Kogai or Nogai. The origin of this is unclear.The introduction of international passports by newly independent CIS countries, resulted in further differences in pronunciation as Korean surnames had to be transliterated from Cyrillic into Latin. In addition to a surname, Koreans also use clan names (known asbongwanin Korea and pronounced as пой among Koryo-saram) denoting the place of origin.
Korean naming practicesandRussian naming practicesare different – Koryo-saram use Russian name practices, but Korean surnames and sometimes Korean names. But most often Christian names are used from the saints of the Russian Orthodox Church, typical for Russians.
Legislation of the Russian Empire in issuing documents required the father's name.
Koreans began with the use of patronymics that were formed from the Korean names of their fathers. Over time, as the proportion of Christians increased, Koreans were given, in accordance with the tradition of the Russian Orthodox Church, names from the general list of revered saints.
Currently, 80% of Koryo-saram have a record of their Korean names. This differs from the pattern typical in the US, whereKorean Americanparents often register their children with a Korean given name as their legal middle name (e.g.Daniel Dae Kim,Harold Hongju Koh).
In Korea, until the 20th century, women were generally called by their family name. Nobles received as a pseudo-name the name of the estate in which they lived and this did not change when getting married.
The preservation of his wife's name has been preserved as a tradition among modern Koreans, after women began to be given names.
The Koreans began to migrate to the Russian Empire in 1864 long before women were allowed to be given names in modern Korean tradition in Korea.
Legislation of the Russian Empire required the mandatory presence of the surname of the name and patronymic name for everyone. Including poor serf wives. When they were married they were given the surname of the husband, a patronymic formed on behalf of the father and given a name from the Sviatcy (List of names of saints of the Orthodox Church).
In Korea, it is common for siblings and cousins of the same generation to have onehanjasyllable in common among all of their names; this is known asdollimja. Russians have no equivalent practice, although they do havepatronymswhich the Koryo-saram have for the most part adopted. Therefore, Koryo-saram do not use generation names. They use, depending on religion, either a name from Sviatcy or a name arbitrarily chosen from the hanja character used in Korea to form names.
Due to deportation and the continuing urbanization of the population after 1952, the command of Korean among the Koryo-saram has continued to fall. This contrasts with other more rural minority groups such as theDungan, who have maintained a higher level of proficiency in their ethnic language. In 1989, the most recent year for which data are available, the number of Russian mother tongue speakers among the Koryo-saram population overtook that of Korean mother tongue speakers.
There are a number of places in multiple countries that can be visited to learn about Koryo-saram history and culture.Korean Cultural Centersthroughout the former Soviet Union, such as theone in Ussuriysk, Russia, offer cultural experiences and sometimes museums on Koryo-saram and Korean history.In Kazakhstan there is a number of places. In Ushtobe, there is aKazakhstan–Korea Friendship Parkthat marks where the Koryo-saram first settled in Kazakhstan. It has a Korean cemetery and memorials for Koryo-saram figures.Also in Ushtobe, theKaratal Korean History Centerhas a museum with authentic houses and historical materials on display.In Almaty, there is theKorean Theatre, where one can watch plays in Korean with Russian subtitles.In South Korea, one can visit the various enclaves they live in, as well as visit a history museum in Gwangju Koryoin Village.In New York City, United States, the restaurantCafe Lilyis operated by Koryo-saram, and serves Koryo-saram cuisine.