‘Victimised for being Chinese’: the hard lives of South Korea’s Joseon-jok community
- Joseon-jok are ethnic Koreans who migrated to northeast China during the Japanese occupation of Korea beginning in 1910 but have since returned
- There are approximately 700,000 Joseon-jok in South Korea and many of them who live in Seoul stay within the city’s Chinatown neighbourhoods
In March, a wealthy Seoul resident named Lee Hee-jin, 33, was arrested for his parents’ murder. It soon emerged Lee hired three Joseon-jok he found online to plan and commit the crime.
Joseon-jok are ethnic Koreans who migrated to northeast China during the Japanese occupation of Korea beginning in 1910. Many were part of Korean independent movement organisations fleeing to China. Others were relocated under Japanese authority after agricultural reforms stripped land from disadvantaged farmers. By 1920, there were more than 457,000 Koreans in northeast China. However, when South Korea’s economy began to boom in the 1990s, they began moving back.
The bodies of Lee Hee-jin’s father and mother were found in their refrigerator and wardrobes respectively. The grisly crime evoked comparisons to Korean movies featuring Joseon-jok characters. For example, The Yellow Sea and The Outlaws were hugely successful in South Korea, depicting thoughtless, violent and even barbaric gang members. In both films, Seoul’s Chinatown neighbourhoods provided the setting for bloody Joseon-jok crimes.
There are approximately 700,000 Joseon-jok in South Korea. Many of them who live in Seoul stay within the Chinatown neighbourhoods of Daerim-dong and Garibong-dong.
Obstacles to adapting in South Korea
The atmosphere in Daerim-dong’s Chinatown is unlike other parts of Seoul, which may be filled with cafes, restaurants, retail strips and convenience stores surrounded by renovated parks and buildings.