Ethnic Koreans in China

According to Prof Kim Si Joong from South Korea's Yeungnam University, ethnic Koreans ranked 13th among China's ethnic minorities, but "attract attention" mainly because:

1) their migration to China occurred only fairly recently, mainly from 1850-1945, particularly during 1910s to 30s when control of the Chinese government over the country's northeastern areas was weak.

Koreans moved to China for reasons ranging from escaping famine in their homeland, to staging an Independence movement against Japanese invasion and colonial rule, and the Japanese regime's policy of inducing migration in the late 30s.

In his article titled Ethnic Koreans in China, Kim wrote: "The fact that they have lived in China for a relatively short period implies that they may not have been fully assimilated by the Chinese or Han culture."

2) Koreans are one of the few ethnic minorities that also have nationals - apart from Mongol and Ugyurs - forming an independent country neighboring their clustered resident areas in China.

For a long time, South Korea was more prosperous than China, but overtime, interactions between ethnic Koreans and South Koreans had increased, especially after diplomatic ties were established in 1992.

As Kim noted, "it is conjectured that the Chinese government is watching closely over the potential link between ethnic Koreans in China and the South Korean government or nationalistic groups in South Korea."