Koreans in Hong Kong

Ethnic group
|group=Koreans in Hong Kong
poptime=4,812
popplace=Sai Wan Ho
langs=Korean, English
rels=Not known
related=Korean diaspora

Koreans in Hong Kong formed a population of 4,812 individuals as of 2006.citation|title=Thematic Report: Ethnic Minorities|url=http://www.bycensus2006.gov.hk/FileManager/EN/Content_962/06bc_em.pdf|date=2007-12-28|accessdate=2008-01-23|issue=xvi|journal=Publications and Products of the 2006 Population By-census|publisher=Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong|filetype=PDF|format=PDF] This represented a drop from the 2001 census, when they formed 1.5% of Hong Kong's minority population, roughly 5,200 individuals, making them the 12th-largest minority community. [citation|title=Thematic Report – Ethnic Minorities|journal=2001 Population Census|publisher=Census and Statistics Department|location=Hong Kong|date=2001-12-17|accessdate=2006-12-21|url=http://www.censtatd.gov.hk/FileManager/EN/Content_41/ethnic.pdf|filetype=PDF|format=PDF] They are wealthier than the average Hong Kong resident; 42.6% of all Koreans employed in Hong Kong as of 2006 had a monthly salary of HK$30,000 or greater, as compared to just 10.8% of the whole population. 23.1% worked in the finance, insurance, real estate, or business services field, one of the highest proportions out of all ethnic minorities. In recognition of this fact, Hana Bank launched a private banking service aimed specifically at Koreans in Hong Kong in January 2006. [citation|title=Hana Banks decide to launch new private banking services aimed at Koreans in Hong Kong|date=2006-01-10|accessdate=2006-12-25|periodical=M2 Presswire|url=http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-5111138/Hana-Banks-decide-to-launch.html]

The earliest reports of Koreans in Hong Kong were noted during the Japanese occupation; after the Japanese surrender, US Army records show that the British government repatriated to Korea 287 Koreans serving with the Imperial Japanese Army. [citation|date=1950|chapter=Chapter 6|title=Reports of General MacArthur: MacArthur in Japan: The Occupation: Military Phase, Volume I Supplement|publisher=US Army Center of Military History|url=http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/books/wwii/MacArthur%20Reports/MacArthur%20V1%20Sup/Index.htm; see note 39] Today, virtually all Koreans in Hong Kong are South Korean; however, a few North Korean businesses and diplomats are known to operate in the territory as well. [citation|url=http://www.asiapacificms.com/articles/north_korea_banking/|title=Pyongyang's Banking Beachhead in Europe|periodical=Far Eastern Economic Review|date=2003-02-13|accessdate=2006-12-25] In addition, a minority of North Korean refugees attempt to sneak across the border into the territory to obtain political asylum and transport to South Korea; the United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants claims that the Hong Kong Police were instructed to keep no record of their arrest or registration. [citation|title=Country Reports: China|date=1998|publisher=United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants|url=http://www.asylumlaw.org/docs/china/uscr_countryreport98.pdf]

Koreans in Hong Kong are served by one school, the Korean International School in Sai Wan Ho, as well as a weekly newspaper, the Wednesday Journal.citation|periodical=AnyChina News|title=홍콩 한인학교 간부 비리로 수감, 교민사회 '술렁' (Hong Kong Korean school board investigated, Korean residents 'shaken')|url=http://www.anychina.net/news/6786|date=22 June 2006|accessdate=2007-08-27] [citation|url=http://www.wednesdayjournal.net|title=수요저널|periodical=Wednesday Journal|accessdate=2008-01-23] However, Hong Kong lacks a Korean-medium kindergarten, and so parents often send their children to English-medium kindergartens instead; some continue on to English-medium primary and secondary schools, such as those run by the English Schools Foundation, and as a result speak English better than Korean. [citation|title=The bilingual development in Hong Kong of Korean children aged 4 to 6|url=http://sunzi1.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record/B31213467|last=Lee|first=Hye-kyung|publisher=University of Hong Kong|date=1996|accessdate=2008-09-30] Tsim Sha Tsui's Kimberley Street, a side street off of Kimberley Road, also boasts a small concentration of Korean restaurants and grocery stores owned by long-term Korean residents of Hong Kong, and has been dubbed Hong Kong's "Little Korea" as a result. [citation|url=http://www.hk-magazine.com/feature/diverse-city|periodical=HK Magazine|title=Diverse-City: Little Korea|date=12 January, 2001|accessdate=2008-09-30|last=Lau|first=Joyce]

Notes

Further reading

*citation|title=Language and identity in Diaspora: Koreans in Hong Kong|last=Kang|first=M. Agnes|date=November 2004|publisher=Department of English, Hong Kong University|url=http://www.hku.hk/rss/rs2005/rpg_4300_gen.html
*citation|last=Kang|first=M. Agnes|date=2005|chapter=Global Englishes, Local Identities: Language and Identity Among Koreans in Hong Kong|title=Language and Global Communication Conference|publisher=Cardiff University|location=Wales|url=http://www.global.cf.ac.uk/lgc2005/details.asp_id=136.html

External links

* [http://www.kis.edu.hk/ Korean International School of Hong Kong]
* [http://www.wednesdayjournal.net Wednesday Journal]