Vietnamese people in Korea
Encyclopedia
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
. In the latter, Vietnamese are the second-largest group of foreigners, after Chinese migrants.
; following a succession crisis, he fled to Goryeo
. He is known in modern-day Korea as an early non-Korean member of the Jeongseon-gun, Gangwon-do
bon-gwan
of the Lee
family. Later, a Vietnamese prince of the Lý Dynasty
, Lý Long Tường (the seventh son of emperor Lý Anh Tông
) and his crew of several thousand mandarins and servants escaped directly to Korea after hearing that the Lý Dynasty would be overthrown by the Trần Dynasty. Lý Anh Tông
and his crew sought refuge in the great Goryeo Kingdom in 1226. A report on Lý Long Tường was broadcast by the South Korean TV channel KBS in December 1995.
Urban myth has it that King Gojong of Goryeo
(1213–1259) had dreamt of a phoenix flying from the south landing in his nation; therefore, he ordered the local government of Haeju
, Hwanghae
to allow the Vietnamese refugees permission to live in a manor in the nearby countryside. Lý Long Tường thus became the patriarch of the Lee
family of Hwasan, Ongjin-gun
.
began going to North Korea
to study as early as the 1960s, even before the formal establishment of Korean-language education in their country. The current Vietnamese ambassador to South Korea is a graduate of Kim Il-sung University. The son of a former staff member in the Vietnamese embassy in Pyongyang
, who also attended Kim Il-sung University between 1998 and 2002, gave an interview in 2004 with South Korean newspaper The Chosun Ilbo
about the experiences he had while living there.
to South Korea on traineeship visas; by 1997, this had risen by about 10% to 22,325. Migrants were mostly male and unskilled; they were employed in small and medium-sized companies in labour-intensive industries such as fishing and manufacturing. Spousal migration
has a somewhat longer history; during the Vietnam War
, some of the more than 300,000 South Korean soldiers
and civilian support staff stationed in Vietnam married Vietnamese women and brought them back to Korea; however, many of these marriages ended in divorce. Spousal migration would not become a large-scale phenomenon until the 1990s, when South Korean men, unable to attract wives locally, began to turn to marriage agencies to seek brides in overseas countries, including Vietnam. As of 2006, 5,000 Vietnamese brides immigrate to South Korea every year. Korean men married to Vietnamese women typically meet on marriage tours, which are sometimes subsidized by rural governments keen on increasing birthrates in the Korean countryside.
Lý Dynasty
The Lý Dynasty , sometimes known as the Later Lý Dynasty , was a Vietnamese dynasty that began in 1009 when Lý Thái Tổ overthrew the Prior Lê Dynasty and ended in 1225 when the queen Lý Chiêu Hoàng was forced to abdicate the throne in favor of her husband, Trần Cảnh. They ruled Vietnam for a...
; several princes of Ly sought refuge with the kingdom of Goryeo
Goryeo
The Goryeo Dynasty or Koryŏ was a Korean dynasty established in 918 by Emperor Taejo. Korea gets its name from this kingdom which came to be pronounced Korea. It united the Later Three Kingdoms in 936 and ruled most of the Korean peninsula until it was removed by the Joseon dynasty in 1392...
. After the division of Korea
Division of Korea
The division of Korea into North Korea and South Korea stems from the 1945 Allied victory in World War II, ending Japan's 35-year colonial rule of Korea. In a proposal opposed by nearly all Koreans, the United States and the Soviet Union agreed to temporarily occupy the country as a trusteeship...
and the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
, Vietnamese people
Vietnamese people
The Vietnamese people are an ethnic group originating from present-day northern Vietnam and southern China. They are the majority ethnic group of Vietnam, comprising 86% of the population as of the 1999 census, and are officially known as Kinh to distinguish them from other ethnic groups in Vietnam...
had various contacts with both North
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...
. In the latter, Vietnamese are the second-largest group of foreigners, after Chinese migrants.
Early history
One of the earliest Vietnamese people in Korea was Lý Dương Can (李陽焜), an adopted son of Emperor Lý Nhân TôngLy Nhan Tong
Lý Nhân Tông , given name Lý Càn Đức , was the fourth emperor of the Lý Dynasty, reigning over Đại Việt from 1072 to his death in 1127...
; following a succession crisis, he fled to Goryeo
Goryeo
The Goryeo Dynasty or Koryŏ was a Korean dynasty established in 918 by Emperor Taejo. Korea gets its name from this kingdom which came to be pronounced Korea. It united the Later Three Kingdoms in 936 and ruled most of the Korean peninsula until it was removed by the Joseon dynasty in 1392...
. He is known in modern-day Korea as an early non-Korean member of the Jeongseon-gun, Gangwon-do
Gangwon (historical)
Gangwon Province or Gangwon-do was one of the Eight Provinces of Korea during the Joseon Dynasty. The province was formed in 1395, and derived its name from the names of the principal cities of Gangneung and the provincial capital Wonju .In 1895, Gangwon-do was replaced by the Districts of...
bon-gwan
Bon-gwan
Bon-gwan is the concept of clan in Korea, which is used to distinguish clans that happen to share a same family name . Since Korea has been traditionally a Buddhist country this clan system is cognate with Gotra in Sanskrit texts and shares most features...
of the Lee
Lee (Korean name)
Lee is the common English spelling of 이 , a common Korean family name. The proper pronunciation in South Korea is like the English letter "E", although in North Korea the name is still written as "리" and pronounced "Lee". Many times South Koreans will knowingly introduce themselves as "Lee" to...
family. Later, a Vietnamese prince of the Lý Dynasty
Lý Dynasty
The Lý Dynasty , sometimes known as the Later Lý Dynasty , was a Vietnamese dynasty that began in 1009 when Lý Thái Tổ overthrew the Prior Lê Dynasty and ended in 1225 when the queen Lý Chiêu Hoàng was forced to abdicate the throne in favor of her husband, Trần Cảnh. They ruled Vietnam for a...
, Lý Long Tường (the seventh son of emperor Lý Anh Tông
Lý Anh Tông
Lý Anh Tông , given name Lý Thiên Tộ , was the sixth emperor of the Lý Dynasty, reigning over Đại Việt from 1138 to his death in 1175...
) and his crew of several thousand mandarins and servants escaped directly to Korea after hearing that the Lý Dynasty would be overthrown by the Trần Dynasty. Lý Anh Tông
Lý Anh Tông
Lý Anh Tông , given name Lý Thiên Tộ , was the sixth emperor of the Lý Dynasty, reigning over Đại Việt from 1138 to his death in 1175...
and his crew sought refuge in the great Goryeo Kingdom in 1226. A report on Lý Long Tường was broadcast by the South Korean TV channel KBS in December 1995.
Urban myth has it that King Gojong of Goryeo
Gojong of Goryeo
Gojong of Goryeo was the twenty-third ruler of Goryeo in present-day Korea. Gojong's reign was marked by prolonged conflict with the Mongol Empire, which sought to conquer Goryeo, ending only when the kingdom was finally vassalized in 1259...
(1213–1259) had dreamt of a phoenix flying from the south landing in his nation; therefore, he ordered the local government of Haeju
Haeju
Haeju is a city located in South Hwanghae Province near Haeju Bay in North Korea. It is the administrative centre of South Hwanghae Province. As of 2000, the population of the city is estimated to be 236,000. At the beginning of 20th century, it became a strategic port in Sino-Korean trade...
, Hwanghae
Hwanghae
Hwanghae was one of the Eight Provinces of Korea during the Joseon Dynasty. Hwanghae was located in the northwest of Korea. The provincial capital was Haeju.The regional name for the province was Haesŏ .-History:...
to allow the Vietnamese refugees permission to live in a manor in the nearby countryside. Lý Long Tường thus became the patriarch of the Lee
Lee (Korean name)
Lee is the common English spelling of 이 , a common Korean family name. The proper pronunciation in South Korea is like the English letter "E", although in North Korea the name is still written as "리" and pronounced "Lee". Many times South Koreans will knowingly introduce themselves as "Lee" to...
family of Hwasan, Ongjin-gun
Ongjin, South Hwanghae
Ongjin is a county in southern South Hwanghae province, North Korea. It is located on the Ongjin Peninsula, which projects into the Yellow Sea.- History :...
.
North Korea
Students from North VietnamNorth Vietnam
The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout...
began going to 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...
to study as early as the 1960s, even before the formal establishment of Korean-language education in their country. The current Vietnamese ambassador to South Korea is a graduate of Kim Il-sung University. The son of a former staff member in the Vietnamese embassy in Pyongyang
Pyongyang
Pyongyang is the capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea, and the largest city in the country. Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River and, according to preliminary results from the 2008 population census, has a population of 3,255,388. The city was...
, who also attended Kim Il-sung University between 1998 and 2002, gave an interview in 2004 with South Korean newspaper The Chosun Ilbo
The Chosun Ilbo
The Chosun Ilbo is one of the major newspapers in South Korea. With a daily circulation of over 2,200,000, the Chosun Ilbo has undertaken annual inspections since Audit Bureau of Circulations was established in 1993...
about the experiences he had while living there.
South Korea
Vietnamese migration to South Korea began later, but quickly grew to a much larger scale; their population consists mainly of migrant workers and women introduced to local husbands through marriage agencies. In 1994, 20,493 labour migrants went from VietnamVietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
to South Korea on traineeship visas; by 1997, this had risen by about 10% to 22,325. Migrants were mostly male and unskilled; they were employed in small and medium-sized companies in labour-intensive industries such as fishing and manufacturing. Spousal migration
Mail-order bride
Mail-order bride is a label applied to a woman who publishes her intent to marry someone from another country. This term is considered offensive by some people. The mail-order bride industry is the economic trade of contracted domestic partnerships, often between citizens of different countries or...
has a somewhat longer history; 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...
, some of the more than 300,000 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...
and civilian support staff stationed in Vietnam married Vietnamese women and brought them back to Korea; however, many of these marriages ended in divorce. Spousal migration would not become a large-scale phenomenon until the 1990s, when South Korean men, unable to attract wives locally, began to turn to marriage agencies to seek brides in overseas countries, including Vietnam. As of 2006, 5,000 Vietnamese brides immigrate to South Korea every year. Korean men married to Vietnamese women typically meet on marriage tours, which are sometimes subsidized by rural governments keen on increasing birthrates in the Korean countryside.