Koreans in Beijing

Beijing has a population of Koreans. According to 2006 estimates there about 170,000 Joseonjok (ethnic Koreans who are Chinese citizens) in Beijing and Tianjin combined.[1]

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Ethnicity in Beijing
Stores near Futong station, a subway station in Wangjing, with Chinese, English and Korean trilingual signs
Korean shop signs in Wangjing, Beijing in 2004

History

Due to war and famine in Korea that occurred beginning in the 1860s, Koreans began settling in Beijing. The Japanese established Manchukuo in Manchuria in the 1930s and established labor migrations from southern Korea to Manchuria. Ultimately this caused Koreans to settle in Beijing. The Chinese Communist Party gave Chinese citizenship to Koreans who fought for the Communists during the Chinese Civil War.

Geography

As of 2010 many South Koreans moving to Beijing have settled in Wangjing in Chaoyang District. Most South Korean businesspeople and their families in Beijing live in Wangjing.[2]

Prior to the 2000s the Wudaokou area of Haidian District was the most popular area for South Koreans.[2] It was the oldest of the major Korean settlements. Beginning in the early 1990s South Korean students who were studying Chinese for one to two year periods so they could enter Chinese universities began congregating in Wudaokou.[3] Hyejin Kim, author of International Ethnic Networks and Intra-Ethnic Conflict: Koreans in China, wrote that the growth of Wangjing had weakened Wudaokou as a Korean area.[2]

The other two areas with a large concentration of Koreans are Yansha and Yayuncun.[3] These areas have higher than average housing rental prices in Beijing and house offices of overseas companies and embassies.[4] The Beijing government official allows foreigners to settle in those two areas.[3]

In Wangjing and Wudaoukou there are restaurants, electronic repair shops, and information technology businesses which are owned by ethnic Koreans and cater to migrant Koreans and employees of South Korean companies.

Education
Korean International School in Beijing

As Beijing's Korean population increased, the number of Korean-Chinese schools increased. In 1989 a Beijing municipal Korean school opened. In 1993 a private Korean Chinese school opened.[5]

The Korean International School in Beijing (KISB) is located in Wangjing.[6]

Culture and recreation

Several Korean cultural festivals are held in the city. The Beijing Korean Chinese Sports Event in 2008 attracted 100,000 Korean Chinese. Beijing has the Beijing Korean Cultural Research Center, which opened in 1996.[5]

See also

References

Citations
  1. Han, Enze. Contestation and Adaptation: The Politics of National Identity in China. Oxford University Press, September 19, 2013. p. 74. ISBN 0199936293, 9780199936298.
  2. Kim, Hyejin (ISBN 0230308937, 9780230308930), page unstated (PT146) on Google Books. "Since the announcement of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, South Koreans have eagerly begun to buy newly built apartments."
  3. Kim, Hyejin (ISBN 0230308937, 9780230308930), page unstated (PT 145) on Google Books. "These groups can be seen in Korea towns in Beijing. Beijing has four Korean concentrated districtS: Wudaokou, Wangjing, Yansha, and Yayuncun.[...]"
  4. Kim, Hyejin (ISBN 0230308937, 9780230308930), page unstated (PT 145)-page unstated (PT146) on Google Books. "These groups can be seen in Korea towns in Beijing. Beijing has four Korean concentrated districts: Wudaokou, Wangjing, Yansha, and Yayuncun.[...]"
  5. Kim, Hyejin (ISBN 0230107729, 9780230107724), p. 160.
  6. "Welcome to Korean International School in Beijing" (Archive) Korean International School in Beijing. Retrieved on January 25, 2014.

Sources
  • Kim, Hyejin. International Ethnic Networks and Intra-Ethnic Conflict: Koreans in China. Palgrave Macmillan, May 15, 2010. ISBN 0230308937; ISBN 9780230308930.
  • Kim, Hyejin. International Ethnic Networks and Intra-Ethnic Conflict: Koreans in China. Palgrave Macmillan, June 8, 2010. ISBN 0230107729; ISBN 9780230107724.
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