Koreans in Spain
Encyclopedia
Demography and distribution
2006 statistics from Spain's Instituto Nacional de EstadísticaInstituto Nacional de Estadística (Spain)
The National Institute of Statistics is the official organisation in Spain that collects statistics about demography, economy, and Spanish society. Every 10 years, this organisation conducts a national census. The last census took place in 2001....
showed 2,873 registered residents of Spain born in South Korea, of whom 514 held Spanish nationality
Spanish nationality law
Spanish nationality law refers to all the laws of Spain concerning nationality. The 11th article of the First Title of the Spanish Constitution refers to Spanish nationality and establishes that a separate law is to regulate how it is acquired and lost. This separate law is the Spanish Civil Code...
, while 2,359 held other nationalities. Among Spanish nationals, men outnumbered women by a ratio of 1.3:1, which was almost exactly reversed among non-Spanish nationals. Between 1980 and 2004, a total of 696 people originally holding South Korean nationality became Spanish citizens. South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (South Korea)
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade is in charge of diplomacy for South Korea, as well as handling external trade and matters related to overseas Korean nationals. It was established on 17 July 1948. Until 1998, the ministry was known as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; its jurisdiction over...
, whose statistics are based largely on registrations with consulates and count locally-born persons of Korean descent as well as South Korean-born individuals, recorded a somewhat higher count of 3,769 individuals in 2005; of those, 2,538 resided in, with another 1,231 in Las Palmas
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria commonly known as Las Palmas is the political capital, jointly with Santa Cruz, the most populous city in the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands and the ninth largest city in Spain, with a population of 383,308 in 2010. Nearly half of the people of the island...
. This made Koreans in Spain the fifth-largest group of Koreans in Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
, behind Koreans in the United Kingdom
Koreans in the United Kingdom
Koreans in the United Kingdom include Korean-born migrants to the United Kingdom and their British-born descendants.-Population size:The 2001 UK Census recorded 12,310 British residents born in South Korea...
, Koreans in Germany
Koreans in Germany
Koreans in Germany numbered 31,248 individuals , according to the statistics of South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Though they are now only the 14th-largest Korean diaspora community worldwide, they remain the second-largest in Western Europe, behind the rapidly-growing community...
, Koreans in France
Koreans in France
Koreans in France numbered 14,738 individuals , making them the 19th-largest Korean diaspora community in the world, and the 3rd-largest in Europe, according to South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.-Migration history:...
, and Koreans in Italy.
Las Palmas
Koreans in Las Palmas form a community distinct from that on the Spanish mainland. Theirs is the only concentration of Koreans in Spain whose presence has resulted in a recognisable KoreatownKoreatown
Koreatown is a term to describe a Korean ethnic enclave within a city or metropolitan area. Similar terms may include Little Seoul or Little Korea.-Beijing:There are more than 150,000 Koreans living in Beijing...
. They trace their origins to South Korean migrant workers who worked on deep-ocean fishing boats based on the island starting in the 1960s. Fishing, along with construction, was one of the main sources of overseas employment for South Koreans for decades; by the 1970s, nearly 7,000 Koreans resided in Las Palmas, making them about 2% of the city's population of 350,000. Many brought their families over and became rooted in Spain, sending their children to local schools. However, with the decline of South Korea's ocean fisheries industries in the 1990s, their population shrank, from 2,283 individuals in 1997 to just 1,292 by 1999, a number which has remained roughly stable since then. Most of the remaining Korean population have shifted away from the fishing industry, and their children have largely entered professional fields, achieving relative affluence.
Mainland Spain
The Korean community on the Spanish mainland consists mainly of two groups: primarily male small business owners and executives of South Korean companies along with their spouses and children, and primarily female international studentInternational student
According to Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development , international students are those who travel to a country different from their own for the purpose of tertiary study. Despite that, the definition of international students varies in each country in accordance to their own national...
s at Spanish universities. Korean martial artists
Korean martial arts
Korean martial arts are the martial arts that originated from Korea. Some well known Korean martial arts are hapkido, kuk sool won, and taekwondo. There has also been a revival of Korean sword arts as well as knife fighting and archery...
, though a smaller group, are also well-represented; they either run their own dojang
Dojang
Dojang is a term used in Korean martial arts, such as taekwondo, Kuk Sool Won, and hapkido, that refers to a formal training hall. It is typically considered the formal gathering place for students of a martial art to conduct training, examinations and other related encounters.-Meaning:Do means...
, or work for private security companies. They do not trace their origins exclusively to South Korea; some members of the communities of Koreans in Argentina and other Latin American countries have also settled in Spain, and South Korean businessowners often employ chosunjok from China in their businesses. Their population peaked in the 1990s and then decreased due to the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, during which many South Korean companies, anxious to cut costs, shifted operations out of Western Europe into the cheaper countries of Eastern Europe, Latin America, and China.
Notable people
- Usun YoonUsun YoonUsun Yoon is a South-Korean actress and reporter born 1977 in Busan.She studied Political Science, International relations and Linguistics in Pusan National University . She went later to Toronto to follow her studies...
, an actress and reporter. - Ahn Eak-taiAhn Eak-taiAhn Eak-tai was a Korean classical composer and conductor. He conducted numerous major orchestras across Europe, including the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Rome Philharmonic Orchestra...
, a composer of AegukgaAegukgaAegukga is the national anthem of South Korea. The title literally means "The Song of Love for the Country," or "The Patriotic Song."It is believed that the lyrics were written for the cornerstone-laying ceremony of the Independence Gate in Seoul in 1896 by Yun Chiho, a politician, or by An...
died in Majorca, SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. - Alberto Jo Lee, a Korean origin actor born in BarcelonaBarcelonaBarcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. - Kimera (singer)Kimera (singer)Kimera is South Korean-born popera singer. Her music style was that of pop opera . She created the style of "popera", consisting of a medley of opera arias set to a mid-80's form of disco and High N-R-G beats...
, a Korean singer who worked mostly in SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.