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Koreans in the United Kingdom include Korean-born migrants to the United Kingdom and their British-born descendants tracing ancestries from North Korea and South Korea.

Demographics

Population size

The 2001 UK Census recorded 12,310 British residents born in South Korea. The 2011 report of South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade showed 45,295 South Korean citizens or former citizens (regardless of birthplace) registered as living in the UK This means that Koreans in the United Kingdom are the 12th-largest group of overseas Koreans, behind Korean Brazilians and ahead of Koreans in Indonesia. According to the Overseas Korean Foundation, between 1999 and 2005, the UK's Korean population nearly quadrupled from 10,836, surpassing the older community of Koreans in Germany to become the largest in Europe. Among those recorded in MOFAT's statistics, 3,839 were British citizens, 9,170 had indefinite leave to remain, 19,000 were international students, and the other 14,820 had other kinds of visas. About two-thirds resided in the London area.

Most come from South Korea; however, the number of North Korean defectors is also rising. North Koreans form the ninth-largest national group of asylum seekers, with a total of 850 applicants, including 245 applications in the first seven months of 2008 alone, thirteen times the number in all of 2007. The UK grants asylum only to defectors who come directly from North Korea; in particular, 180 asylum seekers have had their applications rejected after police checks revealed that they had previously resided in South Korea (and thus had residency rights and citizenship there, in accordance with the South Korean constitution). Some of the alleged North Korean defectors may also be ethnic Koreans from China who purchased North Korean documents so that they could attempt to gain refugee status in developed countries. Efforts by the UK Border Agency to identify fake defectors have not always been successful and have also been known to misclassify actual defectors as fake ones.

Population distribution

Large numbers of Koreans began to settle in the UK in the 1980s, mostly near London; the highest concentration can be found in the town of New Malden, where estimates of the Korean population range from 8,000 to as high as 20,000 people. Factors which may have attracted them to New Malden include cheap housing, the previous presence of a Japanese community in the area, and the "bandwagon effect" of a few prominent Korean businesses in the area early on. In the 1990s, the area came to prominence as a hub for the Korean community; the high concentration of Koreans there meant that adult immigrants, especially women, tend not to speak much English, even after years of residence in the United Kingdom. During the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Koreans from all over the country flocked to the town to gather with their co-ethnics and show support for the Korea Republic national football team.

Other areas with a Korean presence include Golders Green, where Korean and Japanese immigrants have been visibly replacing the older, diminishing Jewish community.

Business

21% of all Korean-owned businesses in the UK are located in the New Malden area. The first Korean restaurant in New Malden was established in 1991. Other Korean businesses in the area include hairdressers, stationery shops, travel agents, and Korean-language child care services; there used to be a bookstore selling imported Korean novels, but it closed down. Two rival Korean-language newspapers are also published there. Korean grocers do good business, as Korean food products, unlike those from India or Japan, tend to be unavailable from mainstream retailers such as Tesco. While Korean food has not historically been as popular as Chinese food, and Korean restaurants in London have been described as "mostly student hang-outs, offering simple food at bargain prices", it is gaining popularity, particularly in the gourmet street food market.

A 2006 study of Korean businesses in Kingston upon Thames noted that Korean business owners' unfamiliarity with commercial practices in the UK, along with language barriers, have sometimes led them into conflict with governmental regulators; the Health and Safety Executive noted that Korean barbecue restaurants are especially problematic in this regard, as they often imported small, uncertified table-top gas cookers directly from South Korea for self-installation, rather than hiring a registered gas engineer to install and inspect them, and took no corrective action when issued with warnings. The language barrier is compounded by the lack of translators; one Korean translator estimated that she had only four or five competitors in the entire country. Today, most South Koreans speak English and many high-quality restaurants can be found in London's West End.

Religion

As among Korean Americans, Protestant churches have played an important social and cultural role in the Korean immigrant community in the UK; they hold religious functions solely in Korean, a practice which contrasts sharply with that in Korean American churches, which often conduct youth group services and activities in English language; this has aided in preventing the attrition of Korean language abilities among locally born Korean youth. Denominations with Korean-language services in New Malden include the Church of England and the Methodist Church. A smaller number of Koreans in the UK observe Buddhism.

Notable people

• Jenny Bae, violinist
• Jean-Baptiste Kim, former unofficial North Korean spokesman in France, now living in Surrey
• Park Ji-Sung, football player with Queens Park Rangers
• Lee Chung-Yong, football player with Bolton Wanderers
• Ki Sung-Yueng, football player with Swansea City
• Yongcheol Shin, econometrician and professor
• Ha-Joon Chang, economist, University of Cambridge
• Clara, South Korean actress of Korean and British descent born in Switzerland
• Shannon, South Korean singer of Korean and Welsh descent, who became famous on the Korean TV show Star King and set to debut with Core Contents Media.
• Sylvia Park MBE, Diplomat Socialite, model and business woman. As the Events Secretary of the British Korean Society over the last twenty years she put on a number of events which have been attended by many leading international figures which lead up to 2009 when she organised a major event in one of the committee rooms at the House of Commons where the speakers included the ambassadors of both North and South Korea. The event was hosted by Frank Cook MP. Ja Song Nam the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea ambassador who attended this event subsequently became their ambassador to the UN. The other members of the speaker panel included Martin Uden the British Ambassador to the Republic of South Korea and Chun Yung-woo the Ambassador of the Republic of South Korea. This became one of those extremely rare occasions when the ambassadors from two countries still technically at war, came face to face. In the 2014 Queen's birthday honours Sylvia Park received the MBE for improving the relations between the UK and Korea. World Peace is threatened by the issues on the Korean Peninsular and that is why Sylvia Park made efforts to improve relations between the two Korean states. Her award was not just for her charitable work but also for her peacemaking efforts. That is what makes her a notable person and being the first Korean born resident to receive such an award in the UK.

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See also

• East Asians in the United Kingdom

Footnotes

1. All South Korean citizens intending to reside overseas for more than 90 days are required by law to register with the South Korean consulate nearest their overseas residence. Failure to register can have negative consequences for taxes and real estate purchases, and overseas-born children who are not registered may have difficulty enrolling in South Korean schools. See 재외국민등록/Registration of nationals overseas, South Korea: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 2009, retrieved 2009-11-09

References

1. ^ Yi, David (19 July 2008), "Livin' in London", KoreAm Journal, retrieved 2008-09-10
2. ^ Korean Buddhist congregations in the UK
3. "Country-of-birth database". Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Retrieved 2009-11-08.
4. ^ [[:Template:Asiantitle]], Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 2011-07-15, p. 244, retrieved 2012-02-25 {{citation}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
5. 재외동포현황 - 유럽 (Status of overseas compatriots - Europe), Overseas Korean Foundation, 2005, retrieved 2008-09-10
6. Jang, Yong-hun (25 July 2008), "英, 한국 국적 탈북자 추방 방침: RFA (UK North Korean refugees with South Korean nationality to be expelled: Radio Free Asia)", Yonhap News, retrieved 2008-09-10
7. Choi, Lyong (2011-10-26), "The British dilemma of North Korean refugees", LSE Ideas, retrieved 2012-08-28
8. ^ Benedictus, Leo (21 January 2005), "'This restaurant is a little bit of Korea brought into a very English town': Koreans in New Malden", The Guardian, London, retrieved 2008-09-10
9. ^ Marlow, Peter (2006), Occupational Health and Safety Factors in the Korean Community (PDF), United Kingdom: Health and Safety Executive, Department for Work and Pensions, retrieved 2008-09-10
10. ^ Moore, Fiona; Lowe, Sid; Hwang, Ki-Soon (11 July 2007), "The Translator as Gatekeeper in the Korean Business Community in London", Critical Management Studies Conference (PDF), University of Manchester, retrieved 2008-09-10
11. Shaikh, Thair (22 June 2002), "Surrey town plays host to World Cup fever", The Daily Telegraph, London, retrieved 2008-09-10
12. Geoghegan, Tim (25 June 2002), "Life and Seoul in Surrey", BBC News, retrieved 2008-09-10
13. Russ, Willey (October 16, 2006), "Golders Green", Chambers London Gazetteer, Chambers Harrap, pp. 194, 340–343, ISBN 978-0-550-10259-1
14. Hall, Sarah (25 June 2002), "With heart and soul in the Seoul of Surrey", The Guardian, London, retrieved 2008-09-10
15. "영국 뉴몰든 한인 유통의 최강자 '코리아 푸드를 가다' (Strongman of Korean logistics in New Malden: "Go for Korean food")", The Chosun Ilbo, 29 March 2006, retrieved 2008-09-10
16. Sims, Fiona (10 September 2014). "Korean food: a spice sensation taking Britain by storm". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
17. Fischer, Paul (23 February 2015). "Korean Republic of New Malden". The Independent.
18. Harden's London Restaurants 2015 ISBN 978-0-9929408-9-8
19. Michael, Christopher (2008-04-09), "From despot's PR man to Surrey salesman", The Spectator, retrieved 2009-09-01

Further reading

• "충격에 휩싸인 영국 한인사회 (UK Korean community shaken by shooting)", The Hankyoreh, 10 June 2004, retrieved 2008-09-10
• Kim, Yong-chan (2006), Migration System Establishment and Korean Immigrant Association Development in Germany and the United Kingdom, Ph.D. dissertation, University of Glasgow, OCLC 70317875

External links

• Korean Festival, the largest Korean cultural festival in Europe
• Korean Food in London
• British Korean Society (formerly the Anglo-Korean Society)
• British Korean Women's Society
• London Korean Links(Korean cultural events in London)
• Korean-Culture Centre in London
• Go Korea (Korean Tourist Organisation)
• Korea Business Centre London (KOTRA)

• British Asian
• Overseas Korean groups
• British people of Korean descent
• South Korean expatriates in the United Kingdom
• Immigration to the United Kingdom by country of origin