[KS] Korean-Chinese mostly descendants of "independence fighters"?

[sumnom at u.washington.edu]

While these citations may not provide exact numbers, they might point you in
the direction of some useful sources.


Schmid, A., 2002. Korea Between Empires: 1895-1919. New York: Columbia UP. See
especially pp. 201-210.

Wright, M., 1958. "The Adaptability of Ch'ing Diplomacy: The Case of Korea" in
Journal of Asian Studies 17:363-381. 

Wright's article covers some of the tensions between the Qing, Choson, and
Russian courts during the 1860's and 1870's concerning Korean migration to
Russia.

In addition, entries in the T'ongmungwan chi and the Tongmun hwigo from the
1880's include references to Koreans in Manchuria that may be of general
interest to you. 


Joshua Van Lieu


On Mon, 15 Dec 2003, T.N. Park wrote:

> With the crackdown on overstaying "illegals" in South Korea, there is a
> great deal of news, in both the English and Korean media, about the plight
> of ethnic Koreans from China, many of whom are now petitioning the South
> Korean government for naturalization as ROK citizens.
> 
> There is certainly precedent in Korea for more generous treatment based on
> shared Korean ethnicity: most "kyopo" who themselves or whose direct
> ancestors emigrated after the establishment of the Republic of Korea in 1948
> and who obtained citizenship in another country are eligible for what
> amounts to a virtual "green card" giving them the right to work freely in
> South Korea for renewable periods of two years.
> 
> My question relates to the accuracy of how the Korean-Chinese, or rather,
> their forebears, are typically being described in much of the media. A
> sample can be found in today's Korea Times:
> http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200312/kt2003121417310710220.htm.
> 
> Specifically, it says: "The ethnic Koreans [i.e., those ethnic Koreans from
> China "seeking to regain their nationality"] are mostly descendants of
> independence fighters who fled to China during Japanese colonial rule."
> 
> Barring for a moment whether the phrase "regaining their nationality" is
> appropriate for individuals who never had ROK citizenship in the first
> place, I'm curious about the veracity of the notion, now commonly accepted
> in South Korea, that most of the ethnic Koreans in/from China are
> descendants of so-called "independence fighters" (I'm assuming they are
> referring to the "Righteous Armies" and other militia that fought against
> the Japanese during colonial rule).
> 
> When I was in college in the late 1980s and early 1990s, I saw Western
> estimates based on official PRC figures putting the number of ethnic Koreans
> in China at about 1 million. More recently, I've seen figures putting it at
> 2 million (this would be PRC citizens, not including North Korean refugees).
> I have also read figures that put the actual number as high as 5 or 10
> million, accompanied by suggestions that PRC officials deliberately keep the
> number low so as to avoid any possibility of encouraging a Korean separatist
> movement that would seek to eventually re-attach predominantly Korean
> portions of northeast China with the rest of the Korean homeland.
> 
> Whether the actual number is close to 1, 2, 5, or 10 million, could the
> majority of these people really be descendants of "independence fighters"?
> That would seem an incredibly large force of forebears, one that could have
> given the Japanese military a far greater headache than they actually did.
> 
> It would guess that the a sizable chunk of the ethnic Koreans in China are
> descendants of those who went to China under the auspices of the ruling
> Japanese authority in Manchuria. I imagine another sizable group would be
> descendants of people who, prior to the establishment of Manchukuo, simply
> went there to escape harsh conditions in Korea, but did not participate in
> any form of independence movement.
> 
> The issue is taking on even an anti-American tone. A caller to one of our
> network's news programs, for example, expressed a sentiment I've heard
> elsewhere: the ethnic Koreans in China deserve citizenship because they are
> the descendants of freedom fighters, unlike the ethnic Koreans in the US and
> elsewhere in the West, who abandoned Korea when it needed their help most.
> 
> If anyone can point me toward some accurate figures or accounts of the
> origins of the ethnic Koreans in China, I'd be most appreciative. Thanks in
> advance for your help.
> 
> T'NP
> 
> 
>