Overview
According to 2001 statistics, 5.6 million Koreans are estimated to live in 151 different countries around the world.1 This population of overseas Korean residents is equal to roughly 8% of the total combined populations of South and North Korea. Overseas Koreans are regionally concentrated in four superpowers: the United States (2.1 million), China (1.88 million), Japan (640,000), and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS; (540,000).2 The Korean diaspora was an unintended consequence of the unfortunate events of modem Korean history. However, due to this diaspora, Korea now has an invaluable pool of worldwide human capital, and thus a competitive edge over other countries with respect to globalization.
Despite the Korean diaspora’s relatively short history from around the mid nineteenth century, it is characterized by myriad challenges and responses in various settings. For the sake of simplicity, we can categorize the Korean diaspora into four distinct periods. The...
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Association of the Koreans of Kazakstan. (1997). The Koreans of Kazakstan: An illustrated history. Seoul: STC Co.
Baek, T. H. (2001). The social reality faced by ethnic Koreans in Central Asia. Korean and Korean American Studies Bulletin, 1, 45–88.
Chey, Y. C. S. (1987). Soviet Koreans and their culture in the USSR. In D. S. Suh (Ed.), Koreans in the Soviet Union (pp. 60–84). Honolulu, HI: Center for Korean Studies.
Han, K. K. (2001). The history and current situation of the Korean diaspora and migration: Japan [in Korean]. In I. Y. Yim (Ed.), New concepts and approaches to national integration. Part II: National integration in the period of globalization and information (pp. 91–149). Chunchon, South Korea: Hallym University Research Institute of National Integration.
Hicks, G. (1997). Japan’s hidden apartheid: The Korean minority and the Japanese. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate.
Kim, H. C. (1980). Koreans. In S. Therstorm (Ed.), Harvard encyclopedia of American ethnic groups (pp. 601–606). Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Kim, I. S. (1981). New urban immigrants: The Korean community in New York. Princeton, N J: Princeton University Press.
Kim, J. G. (1983). To god’s country: Canadian missionaries in Korea and the beginning of Korean migration to Canada. Doctoral dissertation, University of Toronto.
Kim, S. J. (2003). The economic status and role of ethnic Koreans in China. In C. F. Bergsten and I. B. Choi (Eds.), The Korean diaspora in the world economy (pp. 101–127). Washington, DC: Institute for International Economics.
Kwon, H. Y. (1996). The Koreans in the world: The Commonwealth of Independent States [in Korean]. Seoul: Korean Ministry of National Unification.
Kwon, T. H. (2001). The Koreans in China. Paper presented at the Korean Diaspora Conference, 22 March, 2001; Chicago.
Lee, K. K. (1994). Koreans in Japan: An anthropological approach [in Korean]. Seoul: Ilchokak.
Lee, M. W. (1997). The Koreans in the world: Japan [in Korean]. Seoul: Ministry of Unification.
Patterson, W. (1988). The Korean frontier in America: Immigration to Hawaii, 1896–1910. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Yoon, I. J. (1997). On my own: Korean businesses and race relations in America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Yoon, I. J. (2000). Forced relocation, language use, and ethnic identity of Koreans in Central Asia. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, 9, 35–64.
Yoon, I. J. (2001). Conditions and perceptions of immigrant life of Koreans in Toronto [in Korean]. Studies of Koreans Abroad, 11, 5–56.
Yu, E. Y. (1983). Korean communities in America: Past, present, and future. Amerasia Journal, 10, 23–51.
Yu, E. Y., Peter, C., & Sang, I. H. (2002). Korean population in the United States, 2000: Demographic characteristics and socioeconomic status. International Journal of Korean Studies, 6, 71–107.
Yu, P. H. (2000). A study on the crisis in Korean-Chinese population in China. Studies of Koreans Abroad, 10, 135–159.
Yuh, J. Y. (2002). Beyond the shadow of Camptown: Korean military brides in America. New York: New York University Press.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2005 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.
About this entry
Cite this entry
Yoon, IJ. (2005). Korean Diaspora. In: Ember, M., Ember, C.R., Skoggard, I. (eds) Encyclopedia of Diasporas. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-29904-4_20
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-29904-4_20
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-0-306-48321-9
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-29904-4
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law