Koreans in Vietnam
Encyclopedia
Koreans in Vietnam initially came in a military capacity, fighting on both sides of the Vietnam War
. After the end of the war, there was little Korean migration or tourism in Vietnam, until the rise of the South Korean economy
and the decline of the North
resulted in an influx of South Korean investors and North Korean defectors
. Vietnamese women started to migrate to Korea for better opportunity. As of 2011, they formed the second-largest Korean diaspora community in Southeast Asia
, after the Korean community in the Philippines
, and the tenth-largest in the world.
Both North
and South Korea
lent material and manpower support to their respective ideological allies during the Vietnam War
, though the number of South Korean troops on the ground was larger. Then-South Korean president Syngman Rhee
had offered to send troops to Vietnam as early as 1954, but his proposal was turned down by the U.S. Department of State
; the first South Korean personnel to land in Vietnam, 10 years later, were non-combatants: ten Taekwondo
instructors, along with thirty-four officers and ninety-six enlisted men of a Korean Army hospital unit. In total, between 1965 and 1973, 312,853 South Korean soldiers
fought in Vietnam; Vietnam's Ministry of Culture and Communications estimated they killed 41,400 North Vietnamese Army soldiers and 5,000 civilians. South Korean troops were hampered by their lack of command of any of the major languages in the country or among their allies. They were also accused of war atrocities, and are known to have left behind thousands of children of mixed Korean and Vietnamese descent
.
As a result of a decision of the Korean Workers' Party in October 1966, in early 1967 North Korea
sent a fighter squadron to North Vietnam to back up the North Vietnamese 921st and 923rd fighter squadrons defending Hanoi. They stayed through 1968; 200 pilots were reported to have served. In addition, at least two anti-aircraft artillery regiments were sent as well.
being larger; he estimated that half lived in Ho Chi Minh City
. Statistics from South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
show that their population has grown by nearly fifty times in little more than a decade. Their population more than trebled from 1,788 in 1997 to 6,226 in 2003, then jumped to more than thirteen times that size—84,566—by just six years later. However, in the two years after that, the population would only grow by a further 4% to 88,120. Some anti-Korean sentiment also exists, fueled by decreases in promised investment, reports of poor treatment faced by Vietnamese migrants in South Korea
, and the 2008 murder of a Hanoi National University student by her South Korean boyfriend.
South Koreans have established a number of community organisations in Vietnam, including Koviet, a group for second-generation
Korean youth raised in Vietnam, founded in 1995
had crossed Vietnam's northern border to find the way to reach South Korea. Until 2004, Vietnam was described as the "preferred Southeast Asian escape route" for North Korean defectors, largely due to its less-mountainous terrain. Though Vietnam remains an officially communist country and maintains diplomatic relations with North Korea, growing South Korean investment in Vietnam has prompted Hanoi to quietly permit the transit of North Korean refugees to Seoul. The increased South Korean presence in the country also proved a magnet for defectors; four of the biggest defector safehouses in Vietnam were run by South Korean expatriates, and many defectors indicated that they chose to try to cross the border from China into Vietnam precisely because they had heard about such safehouses. In July 2004, 468 North Korean refugees were airlifted to South Korea in the single largest mass defection; Vietnam initially tried to keep their role in the airlift secret, and in advance of the deal, even anonymous sources in the South Korean government would only tell reporters that the defectors came from "an unidentified Asian country". Following the airlift, Vietnam would tighten up border controls and deport several safe-house operators.
(founded 4 August 1998, enrolling 745 students at the kindergarten through high school levels), and a smaller one in Hanoi
(founded 13 July 2006, with 63 elementary-level students). Prior to the opening of the Korean international school in Hanoi, most Korean families in Hanoi sent their children to local schools, as the other international schools were too expensive.
Lee Seon-hui (이선희) is the first foreigner who obtained the Vietnamese legal license.
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. After the end of the war, there was little Korean migration or tourism in Vietnam, until the rise of the South Korean economy
Economy of South Korea
South Korea has a market economy which ranks 15th in the world by nominal GDP and 12th by purchasing power parity , identifying it as one of the G-20 major economies. It is a high-income developed country, with a developed market, and is a member of OECD...
and the decline of the North
North Korean famine
'The North Korean famine was a famine in North Korea which began in the early 1990s...
resulted in an influx of South Korean investors and North Korean defectors
North Korean defectors
A number of individuals have defected from North Korea. Since the division of Korea after World War II and the end of the Korean War , many people have defected from North Korea, mainly for political, ideological, religious and economic reasons...
. Vietnamese women started to migrate to Korea for better opportunity. As of 2011, they formed the second-largest Korean diaspora community in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
, after the Korean community in the Philippines
Koreans in the Philippines
Koreans in the Philippines, largely consisting of expatriates from South Korea, form the largest Korean diaspora community in Southeast Asia and the eighth-largest in the world, after Korean Australians and before Koreans in Kazakhstan; as of 2009, statistics of South Korea's Ministry of Foreign...
, and the tenth-largest in the world.
Vietnam War
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
and South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
lent material and manpower support to their respective ideological allies during the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, though the number of South Korean troops on the ground was larger. Then-South Korean president Syngman Rhee
Syngman Rhee
Syngman Rhee or Yi Seungman was the first president of South Korea. His presidency, from August 1948 to April 1960, remains controversial, affected by Cold War tensions on the Korean peninsula and elsewhere. Rhee was regarded as an anti-Communist and a strongman, and he led South Korea through the...
had offered to send troops to Vietnam as early as 1954, but his proposal was turned down by the U.S. Department of State
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
; the first South Korean personnel to land in Vietnam, 10 years later, were non-combatants: ten Taekwondo
Taekwondo
Taekwondo is a Korean martial art and the national sport of South Korea. In Korean, tae means "to strike or break with foot"; kwon means "to strike or break with fist"; and do means "way", "method", or "path"...
instructors, along with thirty-four officers and ninety-six enlisted men of a Korean Army hospital unit. In total, between 1965 and 1973, 312,853 South Korean soldiers
Military of South Korea
The Republic of Korea Armed Forces or ROK Armed Forces, is the armed forces of the Republic of Korea...
fought in Vietnam; Vietnam's Ministry of Culture and Communications estimated they killed 41,400 North Vietnamese Army soldiers and 5,000 civilians. South Korean troops were hampered by their lack of command of any of the major languages in the country or among their allies. They were also accused of war atrocities, and are known to have left behind thousands of children of mixed Korean and Vietnamese descent
Lai Daihan
A Lai Đại Hàn is a person born to a South Korean father and a Vietnamese mother during the Vietnam War. The fathers include both members of the South Korean military and Korean workers who were stationed in Vietnam during the War...
.
As a result of a decision of the Korean Workers' Party in October 1966, in early 1967 North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
sent a fighter squadron to North Vietnam to back up the North Vietnamese 921st and 923rd fighter squadrons defending Hanoi. They stayed through 1968; 200 pilots were reported to have served. In addition, at least two anti-aircraft artillery regiments were sent as well.
South Koreans
Four years after the 1992 normalisation of diplomatic ties, South Korean trade and investment in Vietnam grew rapidly. Following along with the investment funds, the South Korean expatriate community in Vietnam has grown significantly. According to Chang Keun Lee of the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Vietnam, Koreans formed the country's second-largest group of expatriates, with only the Taiwanese expatriate communityRepublic of China nationals in Vietnam
Taiwanese expatriates in Vietnam consist largely of expatriate businessmen and their families. The Ho Chi Minh City branch of the Taipei-based Taiwan External Trade Development Council estimates that 20,000 people from Taiwan were living in Vietnam as of 2002....
being larger; he estimated that half lived in Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City , formerly named Saigon is the largest city in Vietnam...
. Statistics from 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...
show that their population has grown by nearly fifty times in little more than a decade. Their population more than trebled from 1,788 in 1997 to 6,226 in 2003, then jumped to more than thirteen times that size—84,566—by just six years later. However, in the two years after that, the population would only grow by a further 4% to 88,120. Some anti-Korean sentiment also exists, fueled by decreases in promised investment, reports of poor treatment faced by Vietnamese migrants in South Korea
Vietnamese people in Korea
Vietnamese people in Korea have a history going back to the latter days of Vietnam's Lý Dynasty; several princes of Ly sought refuge with the kingdom of Goryeo. After the division of Korea and the Korean War, Vietnamese people had various contacts with both North and South Korea...
, and the 2008 murder of a Hanoi National University student by her South Korean boyfriend.
South Koreans have established a number of community organisations in Vietnam, including Koviet, a group for second-generation
Immigrant generations
The term first-generation [citizen of a country], e.g., "first-generation Ruritanian" may have either of two different meanings:*A citizen of the country who is a naturalized immigrant.or*A citizen whose parents are naturalized immigrants....
Korean youth raised in Vietnam, founded in 1995
North Koreans
Before 2004, thousands of North Korean defectorsNorth Korean defectors
A number of individuals have defected from North Korea. Since the division of Korea after World War II and the end of the Korean War , many people have defected from North Korea, mainly for political, ideological, religious and economic reasons...
had crossed Vietnam's northern border to find the way to reach South Korea. Until 2004, Vietnam was described as the "preferred Southeast Asian escape route" for North Korean defectors, largely due to its less-mountainous terrain. Though Vietnam remains an officially communist country and maintains diplomatic relations with North Korea, growing South Korean investment in Vietnam has prompted Hanoi to quietly permit the transit of North Korean refugees to Seoul. The increased South Korean presence in the country also proved a magnet for defectors; four of the biggest defector safehouses in Vietnam were run by South Korean expatriates, and many defectors indicated that they chose to try to cross the border from China into Vietnam precisely because they had heard about such safehouses. In July 2004, 468 North Korean refugees were airlifted to South Korea in the single largest mass defection; Vietnam initially tried to keep their role in the airlift secret, and in advance of the deal, even anonymous sources in the South Korean government would only tell reporters that the defectors came from "an unidentified Asian country". Following the airlift, Vietnam would tighten up border controls and deport several safe-house operators.
Education
Vietnam's first school for South Korean nationals, the weekend Hanoi Hangul School, was founded on 1 March 1996, enrolling 122 students at the kindergarten through middle school levels; two Korean international schools offering a full-day programme were also later established, one in Ho Chi Minh CityHo Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City , formerly named Saigon is the largest city in Vietnam...
(founded 4 August 1998, enrolling 745 students at the kindergarten through high school levels), and a smaller one in Hanoi
Hanoi
Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...
(founded 13 July 2006, with 63 elementary-level students). Prior to the opening of the Korean international school in Hanoi, most Korean families in Hanoi sent their children to local schools, as the other international schools were too expensive.
Lee Seon-hui (이선희) is the first foreigner who obtained the Vietnamese legal license.