Overview
According to 2001 statistics, 5.6 million Koreans are estimated to live in 151 different countries around the world.1 This population of overseas Korean residents is equal to roughly 8% of the total combined populations of South and North Korea. Overseas Koreans are regionally concentrated in four superpowers: the United States (2.1 million), China (1.88 million), Japan (640,000), and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS; (540,000).2 The Korean diaspora was an unintended consequence of the unfortunate events of modem Korean history. However, due to this diaspora, Korea now has an invaluable pool of worldwide human capital, and thus a competitive edge over other countries with respect to globalization.
Despite the Korean diaspora’s relatively short history from around the mid nineteenth century, it is characterized by myriad challenges and responses in various settings. For the sake of simplicity, we can categorize the Korean diaspora into four distinct periods. The...
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Yoon, IJ. (2005). Korean Diaspora. In: Ember, M., Ember, C.R., Skoggard, I. (eds) Encyclopedia of Diasporas. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-29904-4_20
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-29904-4_20
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