South Korea country report

Abstract

Emigrants from the Korean peninsula are one of the biggest migrant communities in the world, but yet little is known internationally about their characteristics or differences by geographic area. This explorative paper attempts to shed light on overseas Koreans and their classifications, and on the ways in which the state (mainly the South Korean government) deals with them. Generally speaking, it is possible to distinguish overseas Koreans into Kyopos (in the Western world and in Japan), Koryos (based in the ex-Soviet Union), and Chosuns (the Korean diaspora in China). While the South Korean state tends to only address their situation with a visa policy upon those returning to their homeland, NGOs and other private organizations are more active in addressing the needs of the Korean diasporas abroad.