Information AboutKorean Chinese |
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Korean Chinese (朝鲜族, Cháoxiǎnzú; who are ethnically Korean. The Korean and Chinese names mean " Joseon (i.e. Korean) ethnicity". The largest concentration of Korean Chinese live in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture and form one of the 56 Ethnicities officially recognized by the government. Their population in the PRC is an estimated 2 million and the vast majority of them have assimilated with the general Chinese Society . Korean Chinese in South Korea often face considerable socioeconomic discrimination {Link without Title} . HISTORY Throughout history, due to the close interactions betwen Korea and China, some degree of population movement has always occurred between the two states. However, there were three main waves of Korean immigration to Manchuria . In the 1200s, some 20,000 Koreans headed north fleeing the Mongol invasions. In the 1600s was another migration of some 20,000 Koreans either as a result of Manchu enslavement or heavy taxes in Korea. Those from the first two waves are largely assimilated and the current population is overwhelming descended from the third wave, which occurred between 1860s to 1945. The borders between Qing China and Joseon Korea were closed and illegal immigration carried heavy penalties from both governments. However, in the 1860s, a series of natural disasters struck Korea, leading to disastrous famines. This led many Koreans to seek their fortunes in sparsely populated Manchuria, despite the risks. The Qing government, weakened by Conflicts With Colonial Powers , and feeling threatened by a Russian Empire encroaching on Manchuria, had opened up the Manchurian frontier to colonization by Han Chinese and also came to accept Korean immigration, provided they become Qing subjects. By 1894, an estimated 34,000 Koreans lived in China, with numbers increasing to 109,500 in 1910. After the Japanese Annexation Of Korea , larger numbers of Koreans moved to China. Some merely fled from Japanese rule, while others intended to use Manchuria as a base for their anti-Japanese resistance movements. As Japanese rule over Korea continued, the Japanese government encouraged Koreans to migrate north to develop the land and extend Japanese influence. In 1931, the Japanese military instigated the Mukden Incident , and invaded Manchuria, bringing all of it under Japanese control as the client state of Manchukuo . During this period, the Japanese government sought to develop and colonize Manchukuo with Japanese and Koreans. It encouraged (or forced) large numbers of Koreans to settle north, and entire villages were forced to move to farming work camps. Between 1931 and 1945, the Korean population grew from 600,000 to approximately 2.2 million, most of them concentrated in the areas north of the Tumen and Yalu Rivers. After the defeat of Japan in World War II, many Koreans returned to North Korea, but a majority decided to remain in China. Many joined the Chinese Civil War on the communist side and fought against the Chinese Nationalist armies. As a reward for their participation in the anti-Japanese resistance and Chinese Civil War, the People's Republic of China designated Yanbian as an autonomous region in 1952, and upgraded it to an autonomous prefecture in 1955. Full Chinese citizenship was conferred upon them in 1957. POPULATION The Korean Chinese number at about 2 million in all of China, with the largest concentration being in Yanbian (854,000 in 1997). South Korea has the largest number of Korean Chinese outside of China. However, population statistics are unreliable due to the large number of undocumented workers. Following the Chinese designation, they are called ''Joseonjok'' by the South Korean government. About 250,000 migrant workers were registered in South Korea in 2003, along with an unknown number of undocumented workers (estimates range from 130,000-200,000). A number also live and work in Russia and North Korea . FAMOUS KOREAN CHINESE
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