Menu
Home Explore People Places Arts History Plants & Animals Science Life & Culture Technology
On this page
Korean Chinese
Ethnic Koreans with Chinese citizenship

Korean Chinese, the 15th-largest ethnic minority in China, are Chinese citizens of Korean descent, primarily residing in Northeast China within regions like the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture and Changbai Korean Autonomous County. Descendants of migrants from the Korean Peninsula, many arrived during the late 19th to mid-20th centuries amid hardships such as the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. They participated in guerilla resistance against Japanese forces, including fighters like Kim Il Sung. Officially recognized by the Government of China, Korean Chinese hold a complex dual identity, embodying both a national identity as Chinese and a cultural identity as Koreans, with their history shaped by events like the Korean War.

Related Image Collections Add Image
Profiles
1 Image
We don't have any YouTube videos related to Korean Chinese yet.
We don't have any PDF documents related to Korean Chinese yet.
We don't have any Books related to Korean Chinese yet.
We don't have any archived web articles related to Korean Chinese yet.

Terminology

The Chinese Communist Party had begun to include Koreans in official documents in 1928, however they had various terms to refer to them, such as: Gaoliren (高丽人; 'Goryeo people'), Hanren (韩人; 'Han people'), and Chaoxianren (朝鲜人; 'Joseon people'). These terms are today used to mean Koreans regardless of nationality, though are sometimes used interchangeably or erroneously by those unaware of their distinction.11 Following the first census in 1954, the term "Chaoxianzu" became the official name for the Korean ethnicity in China.12

History and population

Main article: Koreans in China § History

Chaoxianzu's presence in China began intensively in the late 19th and early to mid-20th centuries. In the 1964 national census, the number of ethnic Koreans in China was reported at over 1.3 million, or 0.19% of the Chinese population. By 1982, this figure had grown by 30% to 1.7 million, but due to rapidly increasing birth rates across China, the overall proportion of Koreans actually dropped slightly to 0.18%. This ranked Chaoxianzu as the 11th largest minority in the country.13

As of 2021, the Chinese government officially recognized a population of around 1.7 million Chaoxianzu. It is important to differentiate between Chaoxianzu and South Koreans who might have acquired Chinese nationality, which together may sum up to approximately 2.11 million in 2023, according to the Overseas Koreans Agency of South Korea.14

Their total population of Chaoxianzu is 1,702,479 according to the 2021 Chinese government census.15 High levels of emigration to South Korea for better economic and financial opportunities have contributed to a decrease in their numbers in China. Conversely, it is estimated that 42% (Approximately 708,000) of this Korean Chinese population now resides in Korea, maintaining their Chinese nationality. They are called Jaehan Joseonjok (재한조선족) or Zaihan Chaoxianzu (在韩朝鲜族/在韓朝鮮族) (Chaoxianzu in Korea). Based on the data from the 7th population census conducted in 2020, it was observed that the population of the Chaoxianzu (Korean ethnic group in China with Chinese nationality) in Jilin Province has fallen below 1 million, indicating a trend of dispersion across China. Out of 1.7 million individuals, around 700,000 are economically active in South Korea.16 As of December 2019, the number of Chinese descendants residing in Korea amounted to 701,098, accounting for 27.8% of the total foreign population in Korea (2,524,656). This has made Chinese descendants the largest immigrant group in Korea.1718

Based on the data from the "Chinese Ethnic Culture Resources," the Chaoxianzu population makes up about 0.14% of China's total population of 1.4 billion, ranking them 13th among the country's ethnic groups. The official Chinese government's census in 2010 reported their population as approximately 1.83 million.19

Regions of residence

The majority of the Korean Chinese population resides in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, which holds special significance as China's first ethnic minority autonomous prefecture. There is also the Changbai Korean Autonomous County and various other regions in China with a lower population density of Korean Chinese. Notably, around 700,000 Korean Chinese, which constitutes over 41.2% of their total population, live or have established residency in South Korea.20

See also

References

  1. "朝鲜族". www.gov.cn. Retrieved 2023-10-21. https://www.gov.cn/test/2006-04/14/content_253753.htm ↩

  2. "朝鲜族_中华人民共和国驻印度尼西亚共和国大使馆". id.china-embassy.gov.cn. Retrieved 2023-12-12. http://id.china-embassy.gov.cn/chn/zggk/wslgmz/200404/t20040421_2343354.htm ↩

  3. "朝鲜族". www.zytzb.gov.cn. Retrieved 2023-12-12. https://www.zytzb.gov.cn/zytzb/2022-10/24/article_2022102417594920197.shtml ↩

  4. "历史沿革". www.neac.gov.cn. Retrieved 2023-12-12. https://www.neac.gov.cn/seac/ztzl/cxz/lsyg.shtml ↩

  5. Jin, Wenlian (2020). Chaoxianzu's Traditions of Dress: An Exploration of Identity Within Contemporary Fashion Contexts (Thesis). Auckland University of Technology. hdl:10292/13127. https://hdl.handle.net/10292/13127 ↩

  6. Lee, Peace Bakwon (2002). A Performance Analysis of Chaoxianzu Oral Traditions in Yanbian, China (Thesis). The Ohio State University. https://etd.ohiolink.edu/acprod/odb_etd/etd/r/1501/10?clear=10&p10_accession_num=osu1392300971 ↩

  7. 통계로 본 국적취득자 절반이 중국 출신...[분석] 중국동포는 얼마나 될까?. EKW이코리아월드(동포세계신문) (in Korean). 2023-02-22. Retrieved 2023-10-21. 통계로 본 국적취득자 절반이 중국 출신...[분석] 중국동포는 얼마나 될까? ↩

  8. "현행 1942년 중국 만주에서 출생한 중국국적동포가 대한민국국적을 가질 수 있는 방법". glaw.scourt.go.kr. Retrieved 2023-11-29. https://glaw.scourt.go.kr/wsjo/gchick/sjo330.do?contId=1851192&q=*&nq=&w=yegu§ion=yegu_tot&csq=&groups=&category=&outmax=1&msort=&onlycount=&sp=&d1=&d2=&d3=&d4=&d5=&pg=47&p1=&p2=&p3=&p4=&p5=&p6=&p7=&p8=&p9=&p10=&p11=&p12=&sysCd=&tabGbnCd=&saN=#1701272901085 ↩

  9. 최재헌; 김숙진 (February 2016). 중국 조선족 디아스포라의 지리적 해석 : 중국 동북3성 조선족 이주를 중심으로 :중국 동북3성 조선족 이주를 중심으로. 대한지리학회지 (in Korean). 51 (1): 167–184. ISSN 1225-6633. 중국 조선족 디아스포라의 지리적 해석 : 중국 동북3성 조선족 이주를 중심으로 :중국 동북3성 조선족 이주를 중심으로 ↩

  10. 그래서 조선족은 한국인인가 중국인인가?. BBC News 코리아 (in Korean). Retrieved 2023-11-29. 그래서 조선족은 한국인인가 중국인인가? ↩

  11. "为什么朝鲜族不能叫"鲜族" (Why Chaoxianzu cannot be called "Xianzu" )". minzu56.net. 2019-03-02. Retrieved 4 March 2024. http://www.minzu56.net/cxz/wh/15177.html#:~:text=%E2%80%9C%E9%B2%9C%E6%97%8F%E2%80%9D%20%E7%9A%84%E7%A7%B0%E5%91%BC%E6%98%AF,%E5%9B%A0%E4%B8%BA%E4%B8%8D%E6%84%BF%E6%84%8F%E5%9C%A8%E4%BB%96%E4%BB%AC%EF%BC%8E ↩

  12. "中国民族". www.gov.cn. Retrieved 2023-11-29. https://www.gov.cn/test/2005-07/26/content_17366_2.htm ↩

  13. Lee, Chae-jin (2021-11-28). China's Korean Minority: The Politics Of Ethnic Education. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-429-71182-4. 978-0-429-71182-4 ↩

  14. 재외동포현황 거주자격별 중국국적동포. www.oka.go.kr. Archived from the original on 2023-06-28. Retrieved 2023-10-21. 재외동포현황 거주자격별 중국국적동포 ↩

  15. "华夏风范之少数民族：曾经的高丽人，如今的朝鲜族_中国_表演_华媒". www.sohu.com. Retrieved 2024-02-13. https://www.sohu.com/a/www.sohu.com/a/524605770_121184225 ↩

  16. "中 조선족 170만 명…14억 인구의 0.12%". Naver News (in Korean). Retrieved 2023-10-21. https://n.news.naver.com/article/079/0003652484 ↩

  17. ㈜플랜아이. 한국 체류 중국동포: 국가의 경계를 초월한 삶의 주인공. CSF 중국전문가포럼 (in Korean). Retrieved 2023-10-21. 한국 체류 중국동포: 국가의 경계를 초월한 삶의 주인공 ↩

  18. 재한조선족사회 30년 총정리[2부] 현안분석과 제언. EKW이코리아월드(동포세계신문) (in Korean). 2022-09-18. Retrieved 2023-11-29. 재한조선족사회 30년 총정리[2부] 현안분석과 제언 ↩

  19. "概况". www.neac.gov.cn. Retrieved 2023-10-24. https://www.neac.gov.cn/seac/ztzl/cxz/gk.shtml ↩

  20. "中 조선족 170만 명…14억 인구의 0.12%". Naver News (in Korean). Retrieved 2024-02-13. https://n.news.naver.com/article/079/0003652484 ↩