Ethnic Koreans

Ethnic Koreans (외국 국적의 한국인/韓國人, 해외동포/海外同胞) refer to the Koreans with foreign nationality. So ethnic Koreans from China are called "chosunjok" (조선족/朝鮮族), ethnic Koreans from the Middle Asia "Kareisky" (고려인/高麗人), or ethnic Koreans in the United States "Komerican", respectively.

As the brisk Korean economy needs more and more low skilled work forces, ethnic Koreans come to Korea with other migrant workers. At the end of 2011, foreign workers including ethnic Koreans amounted to 1.3 million.

On April 1, 2012, an ethnic Korean man from China abducted and murdered a young woman brutally at Suwon. Initially the awkward response of 112 emergency call was criticized by the public as well as the press. But it is worried that the public sentiment developed into xenophobia against ethnic Koreans from China. The incidents have stoked resentment of ethnic Koreans from China, with calls for their deportation and other denigratory comments about them cluttering up the Internet.

Key words
ethnic Koreans, foreigners, migrant workers, xenophobia

Ethnic Koreans from China
Around half of the 1.36 million foreigners in Korea are Chinese, and 70 percent of them, or 460 thousand are ethnic Koreans. Most of them live in the Yeongdeungpo, Guro and Geumcheon districts on the outskirts of Seoul, surrounding Gyeonggi Province or in the satellite cities of Suwon and Ansan just south of the capital.

Ethnic Koreans from China make a living as laborers on building sites, in small factories and on poultry farms or as waiters and waitresses, housemaids and caregivers for the sick. Factories, restaurants and building sites would collapse without them, and employers compete to hire them due to a scarcity of available workers.

Korean Chinese here not only earn paltry wages but also face emotional and psychological hardship from being separated from their families. The Suwon murderer, who shocked people by dismembering his young female victim, made between 1.5 million won to 2 million won a month working on construction sites and sent home money to his wife and child back in China whenever he was able to save up 15 million won (US$1=1,130 won). Despite their hard work, crimes like the recent incident increase the chances that they are relegated to the status of unwelcome guests, like migrant workers in many parts of Europe.

Jasmine Lee, a Lawmaker
The April 2012 general election saw an exotic National Assembly member-elect named Jasmine Lee. The Philippine-born naturalized Korean citizen Lee, who becomes a Saenuri Party lawmaker, has been the victim of malicious attacks on the Internet since the general election. People have been posting malicious comments about her on Twitter and other social networks, somehow linking her to the grisly murder of a young woman recently killed by an ethnic Korean from China, as mentioned above.

Though Lee has never made any campaign pledges as a party list candidate, some netizens posted false rumors on the Internet. They argued that Lee had promised major benefits for foreign migrant workers and brides using taxpayers' money.

Jasmine Lee married a Korean and legally acquired Korean citizenship in 1998. After being widowed in 2010, she formed a group supporting foreign wives of Korean men and also worked at Seoul City Hall helping such women. She even played a small role in the movie "Punch" (The Korean title is "완득이") about multicultural families in Korea and appealed to Koreans to pay more attention to people like her. It is perfectly fair to question her ability to serve as a lawmaker. But the criticism against her on the Internet reflects nothing but xenophobia.

Min Byung-gal, founder of Chollipo Arboretum
Those biased netizens must know some foreigners, who became naturalized Korean citizens, love Korea much more than ordinary Koreans. Take an example of the founder of the Chollipo Arboretum (천리포 수목원/千里浦樹木園), Carl Ferris Miller, a former U.S. naval officer. He settled in Korea with a Korean name Min Byung-gal, and donated his life project, a world-class arboretum, to the Korean community before his death.

Government measures wanted
It is time for the government to come up with long-term plans to ensure that the number of foreigners here, including ethnic Koreans from China, does not reach unmanageable levels. At the same time, it has to ensure that they receive humane and equitable treatment. Most of all it needs to improve communication and dialogue with them.