Korean Argentines

Korean Argentines ( _es. Coreano Argentinos) are Korean people who settled or were born in Argentina.

History

The first Korean settlers, all from South Korea, moved to Argentina in 1965, which was the date they immigrated to Chile and Paraguay, four years after Brazil was the first South American destination of South Korean migrants. 6,000 South Korean settlers entered Argentina from 1965 to 1985, when there were 50,000 South Korean settlers in the nation.

South-Korean Argentines are known for owning textile businesses, where they manufacture and sell textiles. Sociologists say that Korean Argentines are successful because they shared credit and employment inside large families and because they brought in cheap labor from neighboring countries. But painful to hear and know several years ago that South Korean sweatshop owners were accused of hiring illegal Bolivian settlers. Some Jewish owners said that South Koreans taking over business ownership.

Many Korean Argentines left because of economic crisis since 2000s, most of them went to Canada or United States, where they increase Korean populations there, while the rest to Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, or South Korea, where they felt like "returnees". Because of this, Korean Argentines number 35,000, most of them live in Balvanera (formerly Once) and Flores districts of Buenos Aires. Among them have settled and put up businesses in Barrio Chino de los Buenos Aires (Buenos Aires’s Chinatown), which is now a multi-Asian community. There are about 300 Korean cultural, athletic, and business associations.

Language

South Korean Argentines speak Spanish. Only the first- and second-generation Korean Argentines can speak Korean. All educated Korean-blooded Argentines speak English, which is a second or third important South American language and an important world language.

Religion

Like most Argentines, Koreans are mostly Christians, but unlike them, they are mostly Protestants. Argentina has some 30 Protestant churches with predominantly Korean congregations. A few Koreans are Roman Catholics and Mahayana Buddhists.

External links

* [http://migration.ucdavis.edu/mn/more.php?id=847_0_2_0 South Koreans in Argentina]