The Chosun Ilbo reports that Chinese authorities might scrap the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture as the ethnic Korean population there drops to 33 percent. When the prefecture was first created in 1952, Koreans accounted for 62 percent of the population. But with ethnic Koreans in the region flocking to the big cities, where South Korean companies have set up shop, or emigrating to South Korea itself, Yanbian is gradually growing less Korean and more Chinese. Warned the Chosun:
While many South Koreans dream of reclaiming the territory that was the ancient Korean kingdom of Koguryo, residents doubt that Korean firms are willing to invest in Yanbian to ensure ethnic Koreans there can prosper. They warn that if Yanbian Prefecture is dismantled, an important Korean cultural base in China with an area of 40,000 sq. km — half the size of South Korea — will effectively be lost.
On the other hand, perhaps the Chinese aren’t scrapping the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture; maybe they are simply shifting it south.
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I wonder how much of this percentage drop might be due to the Chinese policy of encouraging Han Chinese to move into “non-Han” areas, as is done in Tibet and (I think) Inner Mongolia.
I also wonder if, should certain big cities end up hitting 50% ethnic Korean population, if they will be re-designated as a new Korean autonomous prefecture. Doubtful, but who knows?
“ethnic Koreans”……………ooo ooo ooo ah ah ah!
Give it a break Kushibo.
I find your proposition extremely ironic considering that the origin of the heavy Korean presence in Northeastern China dates from the end of the Choson era. Economic factors and later deliberate Japanese efforts to dilute Chinese influence in the area caused the influex of Koreans that are now declining.
“Non-han” area my ass, the reason that they (the Koreans) are even a significant minority in the region is because of Japanese were using the settlers as a demographic weapon which you now erroneously claim the Chinese are doing.
Honestly, I’m a bit sick and tired of this “woe is Korea, always getting picked on by the Chinese” attitude. Korea of the 20th century has tried its hardest to screw Chinese at every opportunity. Even while Korean patriots were setting up a provisional government in China in light of the Japanese annexation, Koreans on the peninsula were having cozy little race riots to kill and drive out the Chinese living there. When ethnic Koreans in post-revolutionary China were climbing the rungs of political power, South Korea was organizing an economic pogrom to disposses it’s Chinese citizens of their livelihoods and drive them out. When ethnic Koreans for the most part have adapted into Chinese society at large and been accepted, Chinese in Korea are often treated with contempt. Anyone know how many racial slurs there are in the Korean language for Chinese?
Actually, for the Chinese the Yanbian is increasingly pain in the a**. The PRC authorities are afraid of all sources of instability, and the presence of a large number of Koreans near the Korean border might become a reason for some irredentist movement. This is not likely to happen right now, since the adjacent North is not too attractive, to put it mildly. But if Korea is united (something China is working hard to postpone/prevent right now), there are good chances that Korean presence in Yanbian will be used by Seoul to advance some territorial claims. Of course, a lot will depend on how unification will be acheived, and what will be the relations between US-China-Korea at that time, but chances are real and rather high. It is an open secret that 만주는 우리땅 (Manchuria is our land) is a best seller in Seoul, and many Korean nationalists cherish their “Manchurian dream”. The unification is also likely to lead to an outburst of nationalism (perhaps, even manipulated by the ruling classes as a way to distract people’s attention from unavoidable post-unification economic hardships and ugly - but unavoidable - compromises). Thus, the Chinese will be very happy to get rid off the problematic institution as soon as formal pretext – 30% barrier, for example – avails itself. They might even use creative approach to the statistics, if pressed hard.
Lankov, a Korean claim on Manchuria is never, ever, ever going to happen. Koreans only assert claims on countries that are unlikely to fight back, like Japan. Far from Korean irredentists causing trouble for China, it is far more likely that a united Korea will fall back into the Chinese sphere of influence, continuing the thousand year domination by China that was only briefly interrupted by Japan and America.
Are you sure about that?
Dear shakuhachi: Putting aside some emotional wording and a rather biased generalization about Koreans (sorry) used in your posting, I have to admit that I agree with you on two major points. I also think that Korean claims to Manchuria are likely to lead nowhere and that Korea is sliding towards Chinese sphere of influence (seems to be a bad news, but who knows?). Still, from a good old Machiavellian point of view, for the Chinese it would make sense to play safe, and get rid off a potential base of the irredentist movement before it really starts. They cannot build their policy on assumption that Korea will be under sufficient Chinese control in the year 20** when the unification happens. And even allies should be handled with care. Once rather considerable political rights of an “Autonomous Prefecture” are gone, the central auhorities might start quitely encouraging assimilation (much less schooling in Korean, less available outlets to express the Korean identity etc.) and on the present stage the Yanbian Koreans are unlikely to resist such pressure with any vigour. Thus, when in 20** the Korean nationalists will look to the east, they will see great Manchurian plains populated by the Han Chinese only. This is what Beijing needs now.
I am pretty sure - Korean are wacky, not insane. It makes sense for Koreans to press claims on countries like Japan since there are no repercussions. Of course there will always be a lunatic minority like the flag biter, but I think that the Korean government itself is basically sensible.
My apologies, Lankov.
I have met two 조선족 in my life, so admittedly my experience with them is shallow. However, I did probe for, err, unorthodox ideologies, and they insisted that 1. Korean is their ethnicity, not they nationality or loyalty and 2. That there isnt any discrimination and that the 100 ‘official ethnic minorities’ are all Chinese.
Demographically the battle for Manchuria is already won. Even were Koreans somehow able to take it through conventional warfare or unconventional warfare, what will Korea do with the Han and Man population, which equals the entire Korean population. The take over of Manchuria would lead to an eventual demographic conquest of Korea, unless Korea starts driving people out (logistically and morally difficult). I dont see how Korea would stand to benefit.
Здравствуйте Professor Lankov. The Korean fringe has on occasion raised claims against territory of the Russian Federation. How well would that play in Moscow?
QUOTE The Korean fringe has on occasion raised claims against territory of the Russian Federation. How well would that play in Moscow? END OF QUOTE
Well, the answer is obvious (”Not well!”). And these claims are not unnoticed by Moscow which is understandably nervous about the area. After all, Russians are newcomers there, and the circumstances of the 1860 Treaty are, well, very murky. Of course, China is seen as the major problem, due to the obvious historical reasons. However, unlike the Manchurian claims, these “Posiet issues” are indeed raised on the far fringe in Korea. So far, I have not seen any book titled “연해주, 우리 땅”…
I was almost expecting you to call him ‘Comrade Lankov’.
If Koreans are “wacky”, then what would you call the Japanese? It sounds like an awful lot of Japanese, including many of their politicians want to go back to the ancient Shinto ruling era! — are we sure we’re in the twenty first century?
From the New York Times:
The question of admitting women to the line of imperial succession, often presented outside Japan as little more than a curious anachronism, has been growing in importance for the last six months. The issue has been promoted by Japan’s nationalist movement, whose influence has risen along with the controversy.
The nationalists, who offer the public a version of Japan’s past that is cleansed of remorse for World War II, are now putting the issue of imperial succession — and the imperial system itself — at the heart of their appeals.
The opposition to a female line is part of a larger nationalist movement that seeks a tougher stance against China and North Korea, presses aggressively for a revisionist history of Japan’s wartime past, and pushes the myth of Japanese racial exceptionalism. Indeed, many at the rally are the same politicians, scholars and journalists who contend that the Nanking Massacre was vastly exaggerated, that Japan invaded continental Asia to liberate it and that Japan was tricked into war by the United States.
“Search all over the world, but you won’t find any other family besides the Japanese imperial family that has maintained an unbroken male line for 125 generations,” Takeo Hiranuma, a former minister of economy, trade and industry, said at the rally, which was organized by Nippon Kaigi, one of Japan’s largest nationalist groups. “In other words, it is the precious, precious treasure of the Japanese race, as well as a world treasure.”
Historians trace the start of Japan’s imperial system to the fourth or fifth century, though Japanese myth says the first emperor, Jimmu, a descendant of the sun goddess Amaterasu, began his reign 2,665 years ago. Political heavyweights like Mr. Hiranuma are now stating the myth as fact.
Nobody, perhaps, has symbolized such changes more than Crown Princess Masako, the Harvard-educated, multilingual former diplomat who married the crown prince in 1993. Back then, she represented the new Japanese woman.
Once in the palace, however, she found that only one thing was expected of her: to produce a male heir. She gave birth to a girl in 2001, and sank into a long depression. The crown prince complained in 2004 that there had been a “move to deny Masako’s career and personality.”
http://www.uglychinese.org/korean.htm
KOREANS
To expound the myth of Koreans and the Altaic-speaking people, most recent DNA analysis needs to be incorporated. Doctorate Li Hui from Fudan University of China had analyzed the DNA of Asians to derive a conclusion that the ancestors of Mongoloid Asians possessed a distinctive Mark M89 by the time they arrived in Southeast Asia. About 30,000 years ago, from the launching pad of Southeast Asia, the early Mongoloids went through a genetic mutation to Marker M122.
Today’s Koreans, in the opinion of Li Hui, would be the mixtures of the early migrants to Manchuria and the later Dong-yi [Eastern Yi] migrants from Eastern China. This certainly dealt a blow to the Korean nationalists’ claim of “Siberian origin”.
To Whom It May Concern:
The story about Nationalistic China will soon come to
an end because there is no truth to any of your
claims. Instead they are THEORIES.
China tries so hard to maintain their political
control over their minorities by covering up the truth
about history. Now they are going as far as comparing
DNA evidence and the origin of Mongoloids? The word
Mongoloid was used in the three race THEORY by a
European who thought that the world only had three
races. Now you are going further by proposing a theory
that is embedded within a theory. Now this is so funny
and amusing. Do you think the rest of the educated
world believes anything you are trying to publicize?
Why dont you do your CHINESE people a favor by saving
time and energy. The quicker you have your people
educated, the better you have a chance to compete in a
global world. I mean, you are wasting time covering up
any truth out there.
I can though, with the rest of the educated linguistic
community, inform you that Korean is part of the
Macro-Altaic family and does share her heritage with
the rest of the Turkic world. The truth is, I have
facts to back up my claim. All you have are theories
about your ignorance and nationalism.
I think the insecurity of your country stems from the
fact that there was no real CHINA. It was always
conquered by a foreign ruler. Oh wait, maybe one
dynasty was ruled by the HAN Chinese?
The Korean community respected how the Chinese
Civilization dispersed and transmitted culture
throughout Eastern Asia. But you are losing your
credibility because you are just plain ignorant. The
Roman Empire gave the Western World civilization, but
all China has to offer now is their plain stupidity.
Please for your sake, learn the facts and move on.
Nationalism and ignorance is soo Old World.
Any questions? I will gladly share with you facts
about us Koreans, in a factual, unbiased perspective.
Yes we are Altaic
Yes, our language is Altaic in origin but has a large
Chinese lexicon,
Yes our history stems from two parts of history:
pre-contact with Chinese culture and post contact with
Chinese Culture. I think you only know about the post
contact with Chinese culture. Oh how convenient.
Yes we are neighboring countries and yet, you do not
even know that our country encompassed the area of
present day Manchuria, which your people still do not
even know that Manchurains existed and still exist. By
the way, just because you print stamps and throw away
anything Korean, does not yet again, erase the past.
We will wait and see the results from the
International Educational Community.
Seriously at this rate, you have more to lose than
gain. You think you can really live in a neigbhorhood
where everyone hates you?
Waiting for a response.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t many of the ethnic Koreans living in Yanbian the descendants of migrants who fled an unstable Korea about 100 years ago? Many of the ethnic Koreans I met in China had family ties to North or South Korea.
Shakuhachi’s perception of Korean-Chinese views on nationality is supported by conversations I’ve had with Korean-Chinese. They were more critical of South Korean attitudes and behaviors which were negative towards China, the Chinese, and Korean-Chinese.
As for Kushibo’s suspicions about flooding minority lands with Chinese settlers, that is the case in Xinjiang and Tibet, but not northeast China. It is mostly outward migration of Korean-Chinese seeking higher paying jobs and a better standard of living in coastal cities, dilluting the percentage of ethnic Koreans in their homeland. One Korean-Chinese couple I knew loved their adopted hometown of Qingdao so much that they named their daughter Qingmei (Qingdao plum).
As for CM’s anti-Japanese tangent, what does this have to do with the topic? Some people will look for any excuse to bash another nationality.
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