- 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% ofHong 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 aprivate 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
repatriate d to Korea 287 Koreans serving with theImperial 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 areSouth Korea n; however, a fewNorth Korea n 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 obtainpolitical asylum and transport to South Korea; the United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants claims that theHong 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 theEnglish 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 'sKimberley 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.htmlExternal links
* [http://www.kis.edu.hk/ Korean International School of Hong Kong]
* [http://www.wednesdayjournal.net Wednesday Journal]
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