Koreans in Africa

Ethnic group
|group=Koreans in Africa
population=7,900Overseas Korean Foundation (2005)]
region1=flagcountry|South Africa
pop1=3,452
ref1=
region2=flagcountry|Libya
pop2=964
ref2=
region3=flagcountry|Nigeria
pop3=800
ref3=Cheongwadae 2006 (Nigeria)]
region4=flagcountry|Kenya
pop4=726
ref4=
region5=flagcountry|Egypt
pop5=685
ref5=
region6=flagcountry|Ghana
pop6=614
ref6=
region7=flagcountry|Morocco
pop7=310
ref7=
region8=flagcountry|Tanzania
pop8=238
ref8=
region9=flagcountry|Botswana
pop9=200
ref9=Overseas Korean Foundation 2007-03-27]
region10=flagcountry|Uganda
pop10=196
ref10=
region11=flagcountry|Ivory Coast
pop11=180
ref11=
region12=flagcountry|Ethiopia
pop12=174
ref12=
region13=flagcountry|Senegal
pop13=164
ref13=
langs=Korean, English
rels=Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism
related-c=Koreans

Koreans in Africa form a very small population, estimated at only 7,900 people as of 2005. However, they are very widespread; South Korean nationals can be found in 49 countries of Africa, including the continent and its surrounding islands; they have established schools in 19 of those countries. They form a small part of the Korean diaspora.

History

South Africa considered importing labourers from Korea as early as 1903 in order to control rising mining wages, but eventually decided on Chinese workers instead. [Yap and Man 1996: 104] During the wave of Korean labour migration to the Arab world in the 1970s and 1980s, many Koreans went to Arab countries of North Africa, including Libya, and to a lesser extent, Egypt and Sudan. Though Libya did not receive its first South Korean workers until 1977, it was the only Arab country which experienced consistent growth in the number of Korean workers between 1981 and 1985. By 1985 it had already become the Arab world's second most popular destination, with 23,138 arrivals from South Korea. In total, from 1977 until 1985, 103,953 South Koreans went to Libya. [Seok 1991: 56-58] In the 1980s, there were some North Koreans in Lesotho involved in training for the Youth League of the Basotho National Party's Vincent Makhele faction, but they were expelled due to pressure from South Africa in early 1986. [Hanlon 1986: 117, 120, 322] The Korean community in Nigeria consists of 550 construction engineers from South Korean construction companies Daewoo and Hyundai Heavy Industries, 240 local residents, and 10 missionaries sent by Christian churches in South Korea. There is also a small population of roughly 200 Koreans in Botswana, largely formed by employees of South Korean automobile manufacturers; 154 live in the capital Gaborone.

Education

The Cairo Korean School, founded on 5 December, 1979 is Africa's only Korean day school and the earliest registered Korean educational institution of any kind in Africa; it enrolls 41 elementary school students and 36 middle school students. [NIIED-ROK 2007: [http://www.interedu.go.kr/edu_net/overseas/sch_formal_inform.htm?no=7&page=1&key=] ] Weekend Korean language schools for South Korean nationals have been established in eighteen other African countries as well, enrolling a total of 640 students. These are listed below (ordered by date of founding of the earliest school):

North Koreans in Africa

In the past North Korea ran several military and civil assistance programs to some of Africa's more radical states, including Guinea, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Mali and Tanzania. In return the DPRK was able to gain diplomatic recognition and other leverage; they were successful in ensuring South Korea was unable to join the Non-Aligned Movement. In Egypt's case the relationship was especially close; North Korean pilots flew Egyptian fighters in the 1973 Yom Kippur War and Egypt exported to North Korea scud missiles. Egypt even had diplomatic relations established with Israel before it had relations with South Korea [http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/HI06Dg01.html] .

North Korea was also involved in several armed insurgency movements in Angola, (then) Rhodesia and in the Seychelles, and provided support to the ANC and SWAPO. In 1984 3,000 North Korean military advisers were dispatched to Angola, and later were reportedly engaged in combat operations with FAPLA. [http://www.photius.com/countries/angola/national_security/angola_national_security_communist_nations.html]

In the 1990s and beyond, as governments in Africa became more pragmatic and South Korea's economic position became clearly superior to that of the North's, North Korea's influence in Africa declined.

See also

* Asians in South Africa
* Asians in Africa

References

Notes

Sources

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External links

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