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{{Redirect|Korean race|the Korean people themselves|Koreans}}
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] poll from 2016 of various countries, asking what the most important factor in ] was. South Korea has the highest proportion given for "race or culture" at 23%.<ref name="BBC">{{cite web|url=http://www.globescan.com/images/images/pressreleases/BBC2016-Identity/BBC_GlobeScan_Identity_Season_Press_Release_April%2026.pdf|work=GlobeScan|title=Global Citizenship a growing sentiment among citizens of emerging economies: Global Poll|date=2016-04-27|access-date=2016-10-20|archive-date=2016-10-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021000723/http://www.globescan.com/images/images/pressreleases/BBC2016-Identity/BBC_GlobeScan_Identity_Season_Press_Release_April%2026.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>]]
{{Korean nationalism|Related}}
'''Korean ethnic nationalism''' ({{Korean|hangul=한국의 민족주의|hanja=韓國의 民族主義}}), '''''minjok'' nationalism''', or '''Korean racial nationalism''',<ref>Gi-Wook Shin, ''Ethnic Nationalism in Korea: Genealogy, Politics, and Legacy'' (Stanford University Press, 2006), </ref> is a political ideology and a form of ethnic and racial identity for ]. It is based on the belief that Koreans form a ], a ], and an ethnic group that shares a unified bloodline and a distinct culture.<ref>Gi-wook Shin, ''Ethnic Nationalism in Korea: Genealogy, Politics, and Legacy'' (Stanford University Press, 2006), p. 2.</ref> It is centered on the notion of the ''minjok'' ({{Korean|hangul=민족|hanja=]}}), a term that had been ] in ] ("]") in the early ]. ''Minjok'' is a similar meaning to the '']'', officially translated as "nation", "]", and "]",<ref>{{Cite web |title=민족 (民族) |quote= people; ethnic group |url=https://krdict.korean.go.kr/eng/dicSearch/SearchView?wordMatchFlag=N&mainSearchWord=%EB%AF%BC%EC%A1%B1&currentPage=1&sort=W&searchType=W&proverbType=&exaType=&ParaWordNo=64742&viewType=A&blockCount=10&viewTypes=on&myViewWord=57383&_csrf=5ffb9500-034d-40cd-a73e-9f5318a77727 |access-date=2024-02-14 |website=]'s: Korean-English Learners' Dictionary |language=ko}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=민족주의 (民族主義) |quote= nationalism |url=https://krdict.korean.go.kr/eng/dicSearch/SearchView?ParaWordNo=57383&lang=eng |access-date=2024-08-15 |website=]'s: Korean-English Learners' Dictionary |language=ko}}</ref> but critics of Korean ethnic nationalism are translating it as "race".<ref name=YuriWDoolan2012>{{Cite thesis|page=63|first=Yuri W.|last=Doolan|title=Being Amerasian in South Korea: Purebloodness, Multiculturalism, and Living Alongside the U.S. Military Empire|date=June 2012|publisher=The Ohio State University|hdl = 1811/52015|type=Thesis}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|first=Jin-seo|last=Lee|title=North Korean Prison Camps|page=26|date=2016|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hKxUCwAAQBAJ|publisher=]|access-date=3 March 2016|isbn=9781632180230}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|date=2013|first=Henry H.|last=Em|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DxAd2Aw_jP0C&pg=PA77|title=The Great Enterprise: Sovereignty and Historiography in Modern Korea, Part 2|page=77|publisher=Duke University Press |quote=As noted earlier, the word ''minjok'' (read as ''minzoku'' in Japanese) was a neologism created in Meiji Japan. When Korean (and Chinese and Japanese) nationalists wrote in English in the first half of the twentieth century, the English word they generally utilized for minjok was 'race.'|isbn=978-0822353720}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|date=2015|first=Hee-an|last=Choi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PTJNCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA24|title=A Postcolonial Self: Korean Immigrant Theology and Church|page=24|publisher=SUNY Press |quote=The word ''minjok'' (민족,民族) translates as race.|isbn=9781438457352}}</ref> It has been described by several observers as racist, ], and ].<ref name=REKelly2015>{{Cite web|first=Robert E.|last=Kelly|url=http://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2015/06/04/why_south_korea_is_so_obsessed_with_japan_108014.html|title=Why South Korea is So Obsessed with Japan|date=4 June 2015|work=Real Clear Defense}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Denney |first=Steven |date=February 2014 |title=Political Attitudes and National Identity in an Era of Strength and Prosperity |url=https://scdenney.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/steven-denney_political-attitudes-and-national-identity-in-an-era-of-strength-and-prosperity-a-primer-on-a-new-nationalism-in-south-korea.pdf |work=A Primer on a New Nationalism in South Korea |publisher=Department of Political Science of the University of Toronto |quote=South Koreans do ascribe a relatively higher value to race than do other nations. |location=Dominion of Canada}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Denney |first=Steven |date=1 April 2015 |title=Workers, Immigration, and Racialized Hierarchy |url=http://sinonk.com/2015/04/01/south-korea-as-subempire-workers-immigration-and-racialized-hierarchy/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160103011031/http://sinonk.com/2015/04/01/south-korea-as-subempire-workers-immigration-and-racialized-hierarchy/ |archive-date=January 3, 2016 |work=SinoNK |quote=Racism is as much, if not more, a problem in South Korea as it is in the United States.}}</ref>

This conception started to emerge among Korean intellectuals after the ] of 1905, leading to Korea's colonization by Japan.<ref>{{cite book | first=Andre | last=Schmid | title=Korea Between Empires, 1895-1919 | location=New York | publisher=Columbia University Press | year=2002 | page=174}}</ref> The Japanese then tried to persuade the Koreans that both nations were of the same ] to assimilate them, similar to what they did with the ] and ]. The notion of the Korean ''minjok'' was first made popular by essayist and historian ] in his '']'' (1908), a history of Korea from the mythical times of ] to the fall of ] in 926 CE. Shin portrayed the ''minjok'' as a warlike race that had fought bravely to preserve Korean identity, had later declined, and now needed to be reinvigorated.<ref>], ''Narratives of Nation Building in Korea'' (2003), pp. 15–16; Andre Schmid, "Rediscovering Manchuria" (1997), p. 32.</ref> During the ] (1910–1945), this belief in the uniqueness of the Korean ''minjok'' gave an impetus for resisting Japanese assimilation policies and historical scholarship.<ref>Hyung-il Pai, ''Constructing "Korean" Origins: A Critical Review of Archaeology, Historiography, and Racial Myth in Korean State-Formation Theories''. Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center, distributed by Harvard University Press, 2000), p. 1.</ref>

The concept has continued to be relevant after the colonial period. In from 1945 to the 1950s, there was the ], a far-right ] terrorist group. In the 1960s, South Korean president ] strengthened "an ideology of racial purity" to legitimize his authoritarian rule.<ref>Nadia Y. Kim, ''Imperial Citizens: Koreans and Race from Seoul to L.A.'' (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2008), p. 25.</ref> However, Korean ethnic nationalism is more prominent in left-leaning politics in South Korea,<ref name="thefreelibrary.com2">{{cite web|url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/North+Korea's+state-loyalty+advantage.-a0274114570|archive-url=https://archive.today/20180520092751/https://www.thefreelibrary.com/North+Korea's+state-loyalty+advantage.-a0274114570|last=Myers|first=Brian Reynolds|author-link=Brian Reynolds Myers|title=North Korea's state-loyalty advantage.|work=Free Online Library|date=20 May 2018|archive-date=20 May 2018|quote=Although the change was inspired by the increase in multiethnic households, not by the drive to bolster state-patriotism per se, the left-wing media objected ...}}</ref> because traditionally Korean ethnic nationalism has an ]ic nature that resists right-wing authoritarian regimes and foreign powers such as the United States and Japan.<ref>{{Cite book |author1=Sang-hoon Jang |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PzDLDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Korean+ethnic+nationalism+which+tended+to+be+against+authoritarian+regimes+and+foreign+powers%22&pg=PT77 |title=A Representation of Nationhood in the Museum |date=20 January 2020 |quote=Korean ethnic nationalism which tended to be against authoritarian regimes and foreign powers |publisher=]| isbn=978-0-429-75396-1 }}</ref>

This shared conception of a racially defined Korea continues to shape Korean politics and foreign relations, gives Koreans an impetus to national and racial pride,<ref>Gi-wook Shin, ''Ethnic Nationalism in Korea: Genealogy, Politics, and Legacy'' (2006), pp. 1–3.</ref> and feeds hopes for the ].<ref>Gi-wook Shin, ''Ethnic Nationalism in Korea: Genealogy, Politics, and Legacy'', chapter 10: "Ethnic Identity and National Unification" (pp. 185–203).</ref> South Korea is a highly homogenous society, but has in recent decades become home to a number of foreign residents (4.9%), whereas North Korea has not experienced this trend. However, a lot of them are ] with a foreign citizenship. Many residents from ], ], the ] and ] are, in fact, repatriated ] (labelled "Overseas Koreans") who may meet criteria for expedited acquisition of ].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kwon |first=Jessie Yeung, Jake |date=2023-05-15 |title=They left South Korea for the American Dream. Now their children are moving back |url=https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/korean-american-migrants-south-korea-challenges-intl-hnk-dst/index.html |access-date=2023-12-04 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Park">{{Cite web|last=Park |first=Chung-a |url=http://www.dhseol.org/activity/ein2006_06.html |title=Myth of Pure-Blood Nationalism Blocks Multi-Ethnic Society |work=] |date=August 14, 2006 |access-date=July 25, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725232752/http://www.dhseol.org/activity/ein2006_06.html |archive-date=July 25, 2011 }}</ref> In recent decades, discussions have continued to be held both abroad and in Korea on the topics of race and multi-culturalism.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kim |first=Nadia Y. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tQcCKxiSEMsC&q=%22tanil+minjok%22&pg=PA24 |title=Imperial citizens: Koreans and race from Seoul to LA |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-8047-5887-1 |page=24 |quote=Koreans' beloved trope of tanil minjok—'the single ethnic nation'— would soon come into its own (see Shin 1998). The centrality of "blood" has been revived in more current times as well.}}</ref><ref name="Park"/>

== Reception ==
According to the opinions of some scholars, pure blood theory is a common belief,<ref name=soksoo>Kim Sok-soo, professor at Kyungpook National University, cited in Park Chung-a, " {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725232752/http://www.dhseol.org/activity/ein2006_06.html |date=2011-07-25 }}," ''The Korea Times'', August 14, 2006.</ref> with even some South Korean presidents subscribing to it.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://theconversation.com/what-the-west-gets-wrong-about-north-koreas-motives-and-why-some-south-koreans-admire-the-north-83639|title=What the West gets wrong about North Korea's motives, and why some South Koreans admire the North|first=B.R.|last=Myers|work=The Conversation|date=September 2017|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170916082701/http://theconversation.com/what-the-west-gets-wrong-about-north-koreas-motives-and-why-some-south-koreans-admire-the-north-83639|archive-date=2017-09-16}}</ref> The debates on this topic can be found sporadic in the South, whereas the public opinion in the North is hard to access.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}} Scholar Gi-Wook Shin claimed that, "to impugn or challenge the theory would have been tantamount to betraying Koreanness in the face of the challenge of an alien ethnic nation".<ref name="stanford">{{Cite web |last=Shin |first=Gi-Wook |date=2006-08-02 |title=Korea's ethnic nationalism is a source of both pride and prejudice |url=http://aparc.fsi.stanford.edu/news/koreas_ethnic_nationalism_is_a_source_of_both_pride_and_prejudice_according_to_giwook_shin_20060802 |access-date=2024-01-16 |website=aparc.fsi.stanford.edu |language=en}}</ref>

Some Korean scholars observed that the pure blood theory served as a useful tool for the South Korean government to make its people obedient and easy to govern when the country was embroiled in ideological turmoil.<ref name=soksoo /> They argued that this especially applied during the dictatorships under ] and ], when nationalism was incorporated into anti-Communism.<ref name=soksoo />

== Role in contemporary South Korean society ==
According to one scholar, in South Korea, the notion of "pure blood" results in discrimination toward people of both "foreign-blood" and "mixed blood".<ref name="Park"/> Those with this "mixed blood" or "foreign blood" are sometimes referred to as ''Honhyeol'' ({{Korean|혼혈|{{lang|ko|]]}}|labels=no}}) in South Korea.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Lim|first=Timothy|title=Rethinking Belongingness in Korea: Transnational Migration, 'Migrant Marriages,' and the Politics of Multiculturalism|journal=Pacific Affairs|volume=83|issue=1|pages=51–71|url=https://www.academia.edu/3605631|doi=10.5509/201083151|year=2010}}</ref>

The South Korean nationality law is based on ]<ref name=stanford /> instead of ], which is a territorial principle that takes into account the place of birth when bestowing nationality. In this context, most South Koreans have stronger attachment to South Koreans residing in foreign countries and foreigners of South Korean descent, than to naturalized South Korean citizens and expatriates residing in South Korea.<ref name=stanford /> In 2005, the opposition ] suggested a revision of the current South Korean nationality law to allow South Korean nationality to be bestowed to people who are born in South Korea regardless of the nationalities of their parents but it was discarded due to unfavorable public opinion against such a measure.<ref name="Park" />

According to Jon Huer, a columnist for the ''Korea Times'': {{blockquote|In trying to understand Korea and Koreans, we must recognize how important blood is to Korea. Koreans love blood, both in the real sense and metaphorically. They like to shed blood, sometimes their own in cut fingers and sometimes animal blood, in protest. They hold "blood relations" as supreme, above other links and connections. They often add "flesh" and "bone" to their rhetorical statements and preferences. In short, Korea is quite fond of thinking of itself and its people in terms of blood...<ref name="The Korea Times">{{cite web|url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2018/06/272_47907.html|title=Korean Blood, Real and Imagined|date=3 July 2009}}</ref>}}

Many political parties in South Korea, such as the ], support and adhere to the ideology in their policies, by opposing immigration, for example.<ref name=myersbr>{{cite web|location=Busan, South Korea|quote= Minjoo Party, a nationalist, anti-immigration, pro-Chinese, Ukraine-indifferent, none-too-LGBT-friendly party|authorlink=Brian Reynolds Myers|first=Brian Reynolds|last=Myers|url=https://sthelepress.com/index.php/2024/01/03/no-kim-jong-un-isnt-abandoning-unification/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108074506/https://sthelepress.com/index.php/2024/01/03/no-kim-jong-un-isnt-abandoning-unification/|url-status=dead|archive-date=2024-01-08|title=No, Kim Hasn't Given Up on Unification|date=3 January 2024|work=Sthele Press}}</ref>

=== Changing attitudes ===
Emma Campbell from the ] argues that the conceptions of South Korean nationalism are evolving among young people and that a new form is emerging that has globalised cultural characteristics.<ref name="Campbell-2015">{{cite journal |last=Campbell |first=Emma |date=22 June 2015 |title=The end of ethnic nationalism? Changing conceptions of national identity and belonging among young South Koreans |journal=] |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=483–502 |doi=10.1111/nana.12120 }}</ref> These characteristics challenge the role of ethnicity in South Korean nationalism.<ref name="Campbell-2015"/> According to Campbell's study, for which she interviewed 150 South Koreans in their twenties, the desire for reunification is declining. However, these who are in favor of a ] state reasons different from ]. The respondents stated that they only wanted unification if it would not disrupt life in the South or if North Korea achieves economic parity with the South. A small number of respondents further mentioned that they support a "unification on the condition that it did not take place in their lifetime."<ref name="Campbell-2015"/> Another reason stated for the wish for unification was the access to North Korea's natural resources and cheap labor.<ref name="Campbell-2015"/> This notion of evolving nationalism has been further elaborated by the meaning of ''uri nara'' ({{lang-ko|우리나라}} ''our country'' ) for young South Koreans, which only refers to South Korea for them instead to the whole Korean peninsula.<ref name="Campbell-2015"/>{{Rp|page=|pages=488–489}} Campbell's interviews further showed that many young South Koreans have no problems to accepting foreigners as part of ''uri nara''.<ref name="Campbell-2015"/>{{Rp|page=492}}

A poll by the ] in 2015 found that only 5.4% of South Koreans in their twenties saw North Koreans as people sharing the same bloodline with them. The poll also found that only 11% of South Koreans associated North Korea with Koreans, with most people associating them with words like military, war or nuclear weapons. It also found that most South Koreans expressed deeper feelings of "closeness" with ] and ] than with North Koreans.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/korearealtime/2015/01/26/in-south-korea-reunification-call-misses-the-jackpot/|title=In South Korea, Reunification Call Misses the Jackpot|last=Cheng|first=Jonathan|date=2015-01-26|website=WSJ|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-31}}</ref>

According to a December 2017 survey released by the ], 72.1% of South Koreans in their 20s believe reunification is unnecessary.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/pyeongchang-olympics-korea-unification-1.4520151|title=As Olympics open door to reunification, young Koreans are tuning out}}</ref> Moreover, about 50% of men in their 20s see North Korea as an outright enemy that they want nothing to do with.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2018/01/28/reunification-with-north-korea-unappealing-for-young-south-koreans.html|title=Reunification with North Korea unappealing for young South Koreans {{!}} The Star|newspaper=The Toronto Star|date=28 January 2018|language=en|access-date=2019-07-29}}</ref>

Steven Denney from the ] said, "Younger South Koreans feel closer to North Korean migrants than, say, foreign workers, but they will feel closer to a native born child of non-Korean ethnicity than a former resident of North Korea."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thediplomat.com/2018/02/what-do-younger-south-koreans-think-of-north-korea/|title=What Do Younger South Koreans Think of North Korea?|last=Diplomat|first=Clint Work, The|website=The Diplomat|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-29}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Society|South Korea}}
* '']''
* ]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Campbell, E. (2015), . Nations Natl, 21: 483–502. doi:10.1111/nana.12120.
* Chae, Ou-Byung. "." Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Sociology, University of Michigan. ProQuest, 2006.
* Grinker, Roy Richard. ''''. Palgrave Macmillan, 2000.
* Jager, Sheila Miyoshi. ''''. M.E. Sharpe, 2003.
* Kim, Nadia Y. ''''. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2008.
* Lee Gage, Sue-Je. "." Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Indiana University. ProQuest, 2007.
* Pai, Hyung Il. ''''. Harvard University Asia Center, 2000.
* Pai, Hyung Il, and Timothy R. Tangherlini (eds.). ''''. Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, 1998.
* Schmid, Andre. ''''. Columbia University Press, 2002.
* Shin, Gi-Wook, and Michael Robinson (eds.). ''''. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University East Asia Center, distributed by Harvard University Press, 2001.
* Shin, Gi-Wook. ''''. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2006.

==External links==
*{{Wikiquote-inline|Racism in South Korea}}
{{Ethnic nationalism}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ethnic nationalism, Korean}}
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Latest revision as of 12:11, 28 September 2024

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