Koreans in China

In South Korea, the terminology describing this demographic has evolved in recent years to adopt a more inclusive tone. Government regulations from 2004 prescribe the use of the terms "jaeoe dongpo" () and "jungguk dongpo" (). The term "Jaejung Hanin" () is considered the most appropriate descriptor for Koreans in China without taking nationality into account. Additionally, the term "joseon-jok" () is often used to refer to Koreans in China who have Chinese nationality. This terminology parallels "Chaoxianzu," which is predominantly utilized in mainland China and stands as the official designation for this ethnic minority, as stipulated by the Chinese government. ==History==

Due to the geographic proximity between China and the Korean Peninsula, population migration has occurred frequently throughout history. However, most early ethnic Koreans in China were assimilated into Han Chinese, Manchu, and Mongol populations. Consequently, the vast majority of today's ethnic Koreans in China are descendants of those who arrived during or after the late Qing Dynasty. Early history After the conclusion of the Goguryeo–Tang War (CE 645 – 668), Tang forces relocated over 200,000 prisoners from Goguryeo to the Chinese capital, Chang'an. During the 8th and 9th centuries of the Silla period, Korean trading quarters involved in commerce with China existed along the coast of Shandong Peninsula and in commercial towns on the Grand Canal, specifically between the borders of Henan and Shandong and the lower Yangtze River. These Koreans imported exotic products that were already foreign to China back into Korea (Silla). Like other foreign traders, Koreans were restricted to designated quarters in cities such as Dengzhou, Yangzhou, and Lianshui in Huai'an (Chuzhou), with special interpreters and managers. However, Korean traders mostly avoided southern China. According to the records of the History of Liao (), the Khitans set up Samhan county in Zhongjing Circuit (), one of the five Liao 'circuits', to settle prisoners of war after the Goryeo–Khitan War. In the Yuan dynasty, Koreans were included in the third class, as 'Han people,' along with Northern Chinese, Khitans, and Jurchens. Korean settlements in the Yuan Dynasty were mostly war-related. In 1233, former Goryeo commander Hong Pok-wŏn and his followers moved to the present-day Liaoyang and Shenyang areas of Liaoning Province in Northeast China after his surrender during the Mongol invasions of Korea. He was offered an administrator position to take charge of the Korean population there, and in the following years, another ten thousand Goryeo households were brought under his administration. In 1266, Wang Jun (), a member of the Goryeo royal family, was sent to the Mongol Empire as a hostage, accompanied by 2,000 Goryeo households who settled in present-day Shenyang. The Korean population in China surged during the Ming dynasty. According to the Chronicles of Liaodong (), Koreans and Jurchens accounted for 30% of the total local population in Liaodong. In 1386, the Ming government established the Dongningwei () and Guangningwei () to settle the growing Korean population. Between the mid-15th and early 16th centuries, the Liaodong Peninsula experienced a peaceful and prosperous era. Favorable policies were carried out for ethnic minorities in areas like Dongningwei (). Many Koreans moved from the Korean Peninsula to Northeast China to take advantage of such policies. However, as the power of the Jianzhou Jurchens grew, Koreans began to move out of Dongningwei. By 1537, the Korean population in Dongningwei had decreased by 60%. As the Jurchens (known as Manchus after 1635) established the Later Jin (), military clashes between Jurchens and Koreans increased. During the two Jurchen invasions of the Korean Peninsula, the Jurchens captured large numbers of Korean people. Most were drafted as soldiers into the Eight Banners or sold to wealthy Jurchens as farm laborers or servants. Most of the captured Koreans in the early Qing dynasty were forcibly converted to Manchu or other ethnicities and lost their ethnic identities. However, about 2,000 descendants of these captured Koreans in Qinglong Manchu Autonomous County (Hebei province) and Gaizhou and Benxi County (Liaoning Province) have kept their Korean identity. In 1982, during the third national population census of China, these 2,000 ethnic Koreans had their Korean ethnicity restored per their requests, in accordance with newly issued Chinese government policy. Late Qing era Migration Ban In 1677, Manchus sealed the area north of Baekdu Mountain and the Yalu and Tumen Rivers as a conservation area of their ancestors' birthplace, and prohibited Koreans and people of other non-Manchu ethnicities from entering the area. The Joseon rulers were also forced by the Qing authorities to implement harsh penalties to prevent Koreans from entering the sealed areas. These Koreans were mostly seasonal or even illegal migrants because the Manchu leaders of the Qing Dynasty considered the Northeast, especially the Yanbian area, their sacred ancestral homeland and strictly forbade Han and other non-Manchu peoples from disturbing the region. As a result, the areas became deserted with no human settlement But there were still Koreans living nearby who took the risk to collect ginseng, hunt animals, or cultivate agricultural products in the prohibited area. In 1740, the Qianlong Emperor extended the ban to the whole of Manchuria. Ban Lifted During the second half of the nineteenth century, Northeast China increasingly became depopulated after 200 years of Manchus' closure to the region. The Russian Empire meanwhile seized the opportunity to encroach on this region. In 1860, the Qing government was forced to sign the Convention of Peking and ceded more than 1 million square kilometers to the Russians. Pressed by the situation, the Qing government lifted the ban on Northeast China in 1860 and lifted the ban on the Yalu River and Tumen River area in 1875 and 1881 respectively. During the years between 1860 and 1870, several unprecedented natural disasters struck the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. Meanwhile, peasant revolts in the south spread to the north. Large numbers of Korean refugees moved to the north banks of the Tumen and Yalu rivers during those turbulent times. In 1879, there were 8722 Korean households living in 28 villages in Tonghua, Huairen, Kuandian, Xinbin areas, with a total population of more than 37,000. In 1881, the Qing government established a special bureau to recruit farmers to cultivate the land and allocated the 700 by 45-square-kilometer area north of the Tumen River as the special farming areas for Korean farmers. Anti-Japanese fights , Heilongjiang, which was led by Korean general Choe Yong-gon in the 1930s On 13 March 1919 shortly after the March 1st Movement in Korea, around 300,000 Koreans in Yanbian rallied on the Ruidian meadow in Longjing to protest against the Japanese and demonstrate supports for the 1 March Movement. This is the first massive grassroot anti-Japanese demonstration in Yanbian. A declaration of independence drafted by Yanbian Koreans was read out at the rally. The crowd then marched towards the Japanese consulate in Longjing, chanting anti-Japanese slogans and waving Taegukgi and placards. The crowd was stopped by Fengtian clique soldiers and Japanese police near the west gate of the Japanese consulate. Bullets were fired towards the demonstrators. 19 people were killed, 48 injured and 94 arrested. From 13 March to 1 May, a total of 73 anti-Japanese Korean rallies broke out in 15 counties in Northeast China. The total number of people participated in these demonstrations exceed 100,000. In June 1920, the Korean independence fighters led by Hong Beom-do engaged the first armed force combat with the Imperial Japanese Army in Wangqing County, killing more than 100 Japanese soldiers. This led to the "Gando massacre" a few months later in Yanbian. The Japanese army killed 15,000 Koreans and destroyed more than 3,500 houses, 95 schools, 19 churches and nearly 25,000 kg grains. Between 21 and 26 October 1920, the combined Korean Liberation Army forces led by Kim Chwa-chin, Lee Beom-seok and Hong Beom-do fought the Battle of Qingshanli against Imperial Japanese Army in Helong. Local Korean residents provided vital supports for the Korean Liberation Army. In the 1930s, many Koreans in China joined the Anti-Japanese forces led by the Chinese Communist Party. In June 1932, Korean leader Li Hongguang established one of the earliest Anti-Japanese Volunteer Armies () in Northeast China. Most of its members were ethnic Koreans in China. Li later became a Key member of The Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army. Among the 11 army divisions of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army, Koreans accounted for half of the total number in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 7th army division. During the 14 years of fight against the Japanese, Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army killed 183,700 Japanese soldiers. Resumption of Chinese Civil War (1946–1949) After the end of Second World War, Kuomintang forces took over the Northeast China from the Soviet Red Army. The Kuomintang initially implemented similar policies towards both Korean and Japanese people, impounding or confiscating Korean properties and repatriating Korean emigrants. Since Korean farmers played important roles in rice production in Northeast China, the Kuomintang revoked this hostile policy towards Koreans in China after the intervention of Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea and even took measures to persuade Korean farmers to stay in China to prevent possible declines in rice production in Northeast China. In contrast to the Kuomintang, the Chinese Communist Party had been very friendly towards Koreans in China. Koreans had a long history of friendship with the Chinese communists. Koreans participated in both the Nanchang Uprising and Guangzhou Uprising, and contributed to the establishment of the Chinese Communist Party's army and the base of the Chinese Red Army in the Jinggang Mountains. The Chinese Communist Party considered Koreans in China as the same class of people in China who were oppressed and exploited by both the Imperial Japanese and feudal warlords in China, and a reliable source of support in the fight against the Imperial Japanese and feudal warlords. In July 1928, the Chinese Communist Party officially included Koreans in China as one of the ethnic minorities of China on its 6th National Conference. After the Japanese invasion of Northeast China, cooperation between the communists and Koreans in China strengthened and the social status of Koreans among the communists rose to new heights. the Chinese Communists let the Koreans choose whether to voluntarily become Chinese citizens and left them ample time and options to choose. In March 1946, Northeast China started the Land Reform Movement, allocating the land formerly occupied by the Japanese or rich Chinese and rich Koreans. Korean farmers in China received farmland just as other Chinese farmers did. From October 1947, the land reform was expanded to nationwide. During the Chinese Civil War, 63,000 Koreans from Northeast China joined the People's Liberation Army, more than 100,000 joined local military forces and hundreds of thousands participated logistics supports. Soldiers in the 164th, 166th and 156th of the Fourth Field Army are mostly Koreans. They participated in the Siege of Changchun, Battle of Siping, Liaoshen Campaign, then continued to fight as far as in the Hainan Island Campaign. Since 1949 After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Koreans in China became one of the official members of Zhonghua minzu. The total population of Koreans in China was 1.1 million, 47.6% of them living in Yanbian. In September 1949, Zhu Dehai, the chairman and local specialist of Chinese Communist Party in Yanbian attended the first plenary session of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) as one of the 10 ethnic minorities, participated in the establishment of CPPCC as a representative of Koreans in China. He also attended the grand ceremony for the founding of the People's Republic of China. After the outbreak of Korean War in 1950, young Koreans in China actively joined the People's Volunteer Army in response to the Chinese Communist Party's call. These bilingual soldiers provided valuable communications help to other Chinese soldiers with locals in Korea in addition to manpower. Zhao Nanqi, Li Yongtai are two of the most notable Korean figures who participated in the war. Koreans in Longjing also organized the "Yanji Jet" donation campaign. Donations from Koreans in Yanbian reached the equivalent value of 6.5 jet fighters after the enormous destruction caused by the American Bombing of North Korea around 1.5 million Koreans were killed. On 3 March 1952, Yanbian was officially designated as a Korean Autonomous Region and Zhu Dehai was appointed as the first chairman. On 20 July 1954, the first session of People's Congress was held in Yanbian. In April 1955, "Yanbian Korean Autonomous Region" was renamed as "Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture" per the stipulation of the first Constitution of People's Republic of China and Zhu Dehai was appointed as the first chairman. According to Julia Lovell, "[e]vents took a horrific turn in the frontier town of Yanbian, where freight trains trundled from China into the DPRK, draped with the corpses of Koreans killed in the pitched battles of the Cultural Revolution, and daubed with threatening graffiti: 'This will be your fate also, you tiny revisionists!'" After the Cultural Revolution ended, things gradually restored to normal. On 24 April 1985, the eighth session of the People's Congress of Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture passed the "Autonomy Regulations of Korean Autonomous Prefecture", which was later approved by the sixth session of Jilin Province People's Congress as law. The Yanbian Autonomy Regulations consist of 7 chapters and 75 clauses. It stipulated political, economic, cultural, educational, and social rights of and policies for Korean and other ethnic people in Yanbian Autonomous Prefecture in the form of law. It is the first autonomy regulations in China's history. These regulations stipulated that the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Prefectural People's Congress should be a Korean, and that Koreans may occupy more than half the posts within the Prefectural People's Government as vice mayors, the chief secretary, directors of bureaus, and so on. Other regulations require the use of both Korean and Chinese languages while performing governmental duties, with Korean being the principal language used, along with encouraging the use of Korean in local primary and middle school. ==Culture==

Korean influence Until the 1980s, Koreans living in China were culturally and politically tied closely to North Korea. When the education provisions for ethnic Koreans fell into total disarray following the fall of Japanese empire, North Korean authorities stepped in to help the re-establishment of Korean-run schools, providing books and teachers. When North Korea was officially established as a state in September 1948, notebooks with the North Korean flag were sent to ethnic Korean students in China. However, there could be some benefits to this migration trend. In 2005, Chaoxianzu migrants remitted more money back home to Yanbian (US$300 million) than the entire official financial income of the prefecture (US$208 million). In other words, money sent home by migrants contributed more to the local economy than the government's own revenue.In the same year, the population percentage with a college degree among Koreans in China was more than twice the national average. Educators included Yi Si-yeong (future Vice President of South Korea) and Lee Beom-seok (future Prime Minister of South Korea). To address the rise of anti-Japanese sentiment in Korean-run schools, Japanese authorities established their own educational institutions for Korean students in Manchuria. By 1928, these included 7 common schools operated by the South Manchurian Railway Company (serving 1,798 students) and 5 schools directly administered by the Japanese-occupied government in Korea (serving 2,312 students). While Japanese-led schools enrolled more students than Korean-run institutions in the Yanbian region, Korean-operated schools remained more widespread across Manchuria as a whole. Private Korean organizations operated 246 schools serving 7,070 students, and an additional 34 schools were affiliated with anti-Japanese organizations. There are also many South Korean international day schools in mainland China, including Korean International School in Beijing, Guangzhou Korea School, Korean International School in Shenzhen, , Korean International School in Yanbian, , , , , Korean School in Yantai, Shanghai Korean School, etc. In addition, the Shenzhen Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry organizes a Korean Saturday school because many Korean students are not studying in Korean-medium schools; the school had about 600 students in 2007. The chamber uses rented space in the Overseas Chinese Town (OCT) Primary School as the Korean weekend school's classroom. There is also the Korean International School of Hong Kong. Religion The majority of ethnic Koreans in China, like the demographics of China overall, have no formal affiliations with a religion. Major religions among ethnic Koreans in China include Buddhism Public media The Korean language has been promoted in Yanbian partly by the government through a large network of schools, local Korean periodicals and television broadcasts, as well as a local law mandating all street signs be written in Korean and Chinese. Most ethnic Koreans in China speak Mandarin Chinese and many also speak fluent Korean as their mother tongue. However, since South Korea has been more prolific in exporting its entertainment culture, more Korean Chinese broadcasters have been using Seoul dialect. The so-called Korean Wave (Hallyu) has influenced fashion styles. == North Koreans in China ==

China has a large number of North Korean refugees, estimated in the tens of thousands. Some North Korean refugees who are unable to obtain transport to South Korea instead marry Chaoxianzu and settle down in China, blending into the community; however, they are still subject to deportation if discovered by the authorities. Although the PRC government estimated 10,000 refugees in the country, the United Nations alleged between 30,000 and 50,000 refugees, of which 75 percent are women. A large number of them experience forced marriage and human trafficking, although two academics have argued that many cases are more voluntary than forced. Most of the refugees originate from North Hamgyong Province. Victor Cha states that 86% of refugees seek passage to South Korea rather than remain in China, but this is disputed by The Hankyoreh. According to a 2015 UC Santa Cruz paper, many North Korean refugees met locals who gave aid to them and did not judge them for their communist origins. North Koreans seen as politically reliable by their government can acquire passports and visas for travelling to China. , there are an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 North Koreans residing as legal resident aliens in China. An increasing number are applying for naturalization as Chinese citizens; this requires a certificate of loss of North Korean nationality, which North Korean authorities have recently become more reluctant to issue. Major North Korean universities, such as the Kim Il-sung University and the Pyongyang University of Foreign Studies, send a few dozen exchange students to Peking University and other top-ranked Chinese universities each year. In June 2012, the Los Angeles Times reported that Beijing and Pyongyang had signed an agreement to grant as many as 40,000 industrial trainee visas to North Koreans to permit them to work in China per year; the first batch of workers arrived earlier in the year in the city of Tumen in Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture. There have been reportedly 130 North Korean state-run restaurants in 12 countries, with most in China. Two have been found in Beijing, three in Shanghai, and others in Dandong. ==South Koreans in China==

After the 1992 normalization of diplomatic relations between the PRC and South Korea, many citizens of South Korea started to settle in Mainland China; large new communities of South Koreans have subsequently formed in Beijing, Shanghai, Dalian and Qingdao. The South Korean government officially recognizes seven Korean international schools in China (in Yanbian, Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Yantai, Qingdao, and Dalian, respectively), all founded between 1997 and 2003. Most of the population of Koreans in Hong Kong consists of South Korean migrant workers. Typically, they come to China as employees of South Korean corporations on short-term international assignments or as employers of South Korean businesses operating in China handling Chinese workers; when their assignments are completed, many prefer to stay on in China, using the contacts they have made to start their own consulting businesses or import/export firms. Other South Koreans moved to China on their own after becoming unemployed during the 1997 financial crisis; they used funds they had saved up for retirement to open small restaurants or shops. The low cost of living compared to Seoul, especially the cheap tuition at international schools teaching English and Chinese, is another pull factor for temporary South Korean migration to mainland China but usually after this period, those that have moved have mostly gone back to Korea. Between 2008 and 2009, South Korean government figures show that the number of Koreans in China dropped by 433,000. The Sixth National Population Census of the People's Republic of China reported 120,750 South Koreans in mainland China, the largest single foreign group. == Demographics ==

Between the first census in 1953 and the second in 1964, the ethnic Korean population in China grew at a faster rate than both the national average and the Han majority (which accounts for around 90% of the population). However, this trend has not continued in subsequent censuses: Since 1964, the rate of growth of the Korean ethnicity in China has been lower than national and Han averages – despite being exempt from the one child policy – even declining in 2000. Between 1989 and 2000, the birth rate among the Koreans in Yanbian declined by 72.8%, a steeper decline than both the Han majority (−62.2%) and the total population (−66.3%). This sharp decline has been attributed to the rising costs of child-rearing and education, a shift away from farming toward more aspirational but costly urban lifestyles, along with the imbalanced male-to-female ratio and marriage migration making it harder for couples to form. ==Distribution==

The 2020 Chinese census recorded 1,702,479 ethnic Koreans in China. The ethnic Korean population in China is concentrated along the border with North Korea. In Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, Koreans make up a significant share of the population in certain cities, such as Longjing (65.4%), Yanji (53.5%), and Tumen (52.5%), while their presence is lower in counties like Antu (20.6%) and Wangqing (28.7%). Shenzhen (Guangdong) there were about 20,000 people of Korean origins in Shenzhen, with the Nanshan and Futian districts having significant numbers. That year the chairperson of the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Kang Hee-bang, stated that about 10,000 lived in Overseas Chinese Town (OCT). Shekou, the area around Shenzhen University, and Donghai Garden housing estate had other significant concentrations. South Koreans began going to the Shenzhen area during the 1980s as part of the reform and opening up era, and this increased when South Korea established formal diplomatic relations with the PRC. In 2007 about 500 South Korean companies in Shenzhen were involved in China-South Korean trade, and there were an additional 500 South Korean companies doing business in Shenzhen. In 2007 Kang stated that most of the Koreans in Shenzhen had lived there for five years or longer. there were some Korean children enrolled in schools for Chinese locals. spaces for foreign students in Shenzhen public schools were limited, so some Korean residents are forced to put their children in private schools. In addition, in 2007, there were about 900 Korean children in non-Chinese K-12 institutions; the latter included 400 of them at private international schools in Shekou, 300 in private schools in Luohu District, and 200 enrolled at the Baishizhou Bilingual School. Because many Korean students are not studying in Korean-medium schools, the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry operates a Korean Saturday School; it had about 600 students in 2007. The chamber uses rented space in the OCT Primary School as the Korean weekend school's classroom. ==Notable people==

Historical figures • Kim Gyo-gak, the Ksitigarbha at Mount Jiuhua (Originally from the Kingdom of Silla) • (), the 16th patriarch of the Tiantai school • Kim Ho-shang, Korean Ch'an master who introduced the first streams of Ch'an Buddhism to Tibet • Seungnang (), 6th century Goguryeo monk who went to China; his works heavily influenced Jizang and Zhouyoung and the Sanlun school. • Gao Xianzhi, a Tang general of Korean Goguryeo descent • Gao Yun, Emperor of Later Yan and Northern Yan of Goguryeo descent • Li Zhengji, general of the Tang dynasty • Li Na, general of the Tang dynasty • Li Shigu, general of the Tang dynasty • Li Shidao, general of the Tang dynasty • Wonch'uk, one of the two pupils of Hsüan-tsang, his work was revered and heavily influenced Tibetan Buddhism and Chinese Buddhism. • (; 960–962), Korean Buddhist monk who arrived in China, who wrote the Tiantai Sijiaoyi (天台四教儀) which became a basic T'ien-t'ai text. • Empress Gi (Originally from the Goyang, Kingdom of Goryeo) • Li Chengliang, general of the Ming dynasty • Li Rusong, general of the Ming dynasty • Li Rubai, general of the Ming dynasty Contemporary Chaoxianzu/Joseonjok • Jiang Jingshan, aerospace scientist, Fellow of Chinese Academy of Engineering • Piao Shilong, physical geography scientist, Fellow of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Vice President of Peking University • Jin Hongguang, physical chemist, Fellow of the Chinese Academy of Sciences • (), virologist, Fellow of Chinese Academy of Engineering • Hyen-taik Kimm, oncologist, known as "The Father of Chinese Oncology" • Kong Xuanyou, former China ambassador to Japan and Vietnam, former Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs • , Former deputy director of the National Bureau of Statistics of China • Bai Lei, Chinese football player • Jin Yan, actor of the 1930s • Cui Jian, Chinese rock musician, composer, trumpet player and guitarist; also known as "The Father of Chinese Rock" • Han Dayuan, Dean of Renmin University of China Law School and Director of the Constitutional Law Institute of China Law Society • Geum Hee, author • Jin Xing, dancer, choreographer and actress • Zhang Lü, film director, screenwriter and novelist • Li Yongtai, member of the 9th NPC Standing Committee, Deputy Commander of the People's Liberation Army Air Force • Piao Wenyao, professional Go player • Joe Wong, Chinese–American comedian and chemical engineer • Zhao Nanqi, People's Liberation Army general, former vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference • Li Xianyu, Fellow of Chinese Academy of Engineering, the first female general of People's Liberation Army Rocket Force • Zheng Lücheng, composer of the Military Anthem of the People's Liberation Army • Jin Longguo, soloist and former member of South Korean Boy Band JBJ • Jin Yulin (; Stage name: D.Ark), rapper based in South Korea under P Nation • Jin Bo: Chinese footballer. • (), member of boygroup NCT DREAM based in South Korea under SM Entertainment • Jin Jingzhe, physician, delegate of the 13th NPC • Li Yunfeng, athlete, delegate of the 14th NPC • Zheng Haohao, skateboarder • Tai Zhien, speed skater • Cui Daozhi, forensic scientist, recipient of the July 1 Medal Expatriates of other nationalities and their descendants • Kwon Ki-ok, one of the first female pilots in China (Originally from Pyongyang, North Korea) • Pak Cholsu (), head representative of the North Korean government-run company, Taep'oong International Investment Group of Korea () • Howie Liu, American-born CEO of Airtable == See also ==