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Koreans in France
Total population
	14,738 (2009)
Regions with significant populations
	Paris, Villeurbanne, Grenoble, Strasbourg, Toulouse
Languages
	Korean, French
Religion
	Mahayana Buddhism
Related ethnic groups
	Koreans

Koreans in France numbered 14,738 individuals as of 2009^[update], making them the 19th-largest Korean diaspora community in the world, and the 3rd-largest in Europe, according to South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.^[3]

[edit] Migration history

Korean migration to France began in 1919, when the government of France issued work permits to 35 Korean migrant labourers.^[4] From a community of just 3,310 in 1988, their numbers more than tripled by 2000, and then grew a further 30% by 2007.^[5]^[6] The vast majority live in Paris—nearly 80%, according to 2000 data— with the largest concentrations in 15th arrondissement. There are nearly twice as many women as men.^[7] Unlike in the United States or Canada, with their large Korean American and Korean Canadian communities, few Koreans in France seek to naturalise as French citizens.^[8]

Aside from South Korean expatriates, children adopted from Korea into French families form another portion of France's Korean population; most were adopted at between ages three and nine.^[9] The number of North Korean refugees has also been on the rise.^[10]

Portrayals in popular culture of Koreans in France include the 2004 South Korean television series Lovers in Paris; its popularity has resulted in an increase in the number of Korean tourists visiting France.^[11]

[edit] Education

Koreans in France are served by five Korean-language weekend schools, the oldest and largest of which is the Paris Hangul School, established 18 August 1974; it enrolled 170 students as of 2007.^[12] Four others, in Villeurbanne, Grenoble, Strasbourg, and Toulouse, were established between 1994 and 2000; they enrolled a further 78 students.^[13]^[14]^[15]^[16] A significant number also attend French universities; in total, 65% of the Korean population in France are estimated to be students.^[7]

[edit] Inter-ethnic relations

Not many French people know that their country has a Korean community at all.^[17] In many cases, Koreans are mistaken for Chinese and thus lumped in as economic refugees.^[18]

Only about 200 of the South Koreans in France are members of internationally married couples consisting of a South Korean partner and a French partner.^[7] Such couples experience a number of cultural conflicts, most commonly over the rigour of their children's education.^[19]

[edit] Notable individuals

Jang Keum-song, niece of Kim Jong-il^[20]
Jeanne Cho-Hunicke, Golfer
Myung-whun Chung, Seoul-born Korean American, director of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France
Jean-Baptiste Kim, former unofficial North Korean spokesman^[21]

[edit] See also

Cambodians in France

[edit] References

[edit] Notes

^ MOFAT 2009
^ "Korean Buddhist organisations in France", World Buddhist Directory (Buddha Dharma Education Association), 2006, http://www.buddhanet.info/wbd/search.php?keyword=korean&prev_keyword%5B%5D=korean&newsearch=new&search=Begin+Search&country_id=62&province_id=0, retrieved 2009-03-09
^ MOFAT 2009
^ Lee 2006
^ Lee-Le Neindre 2001, p. 1
^ MOFAT 2009
^ ^a ^b ^c Lee-Le Neindre 2001, p. 2
^ Lee-Le Neindre 2001, p. 5
^ Ventureyra & Palliere 2004, p. 208
^ "프랑스 북한주민돕기위원회: “북한난민처리 기준 결의안 발의, 유럽의회에 올해 요청할 것”" (in Korean), Radio Free Asia, 2006-01-18, https://preview.rfaweb.org/korean/in_focus/french_human_rights_group_call_resolution_nk_refugee-20060118.html, retrieved 2007-05-30
^ Lee 2006
^ NIIED 2007, 파리한글학교
^ NIIED 2007, 그르노블한국학교
^ NIIED 2007, 뚜르즈한글학교
^ NIIED 2007, 리용한글학교
^ NIIED 2007, 스트라스부르그한글학교
^ Lee 2006
^ Lee-Le Neindre 2001, p. 3
^ Lee-Le Neindre 2001, p. 5
^ Yi, Yeong-jong (2006-09-18), "파리의 김정일 조카 장금송 비운의 러브스토리 (Unlucky love story of Kim Jong-il's niece in Paris)", JoongAng Ilbo, http://article.joins.com/article/article.asp?total_id=2450717, retrieved 2007-05-30
^ Michael, Christopher (2008-04-09), "From despot’s PR man to Surrey salesman", The Spectator, http://www.spectator.co.uk/the-magazine/features/600861/from-despotandx2019s-pr-man-to-surrey-salesman.thtml, retrieved 2009-09-01

[edit] Sources

Lee, Yang-gu (May 2006), "120th Anniversary of Korea-France Diplomatic Relations", The Korea Foundation Newsletter 15 (2), http://newsletter.kf.or.kr/english/contents.asp?vol=63&lang=English&no=683, retrieved 2008-12-07
Lee-Le Neindre, Bouriane (September 2001), "L’interculturel entre l’Orient et l’Occident - les particularités et les difficultés à travers les cas des résidents coréens en France" (PDF), Actes du VIIIe congrès de l'Association pour la recherche interculturelle, University of Geneva, http://www.unifr.ch/ipg/sitecrt/ARIC/8eCongres/DocsOrig/LeeLeNeindreB.pdf, retrieved 2008-12-07
Ventureyra, Valérie A.G.; Palliere, Christophe (2004), "In search of the lost language: The case of adopted Koreans in France", in Schmid, Monika S., First Language Attrition: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Methodological Issues, Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins Publishing Company, pp. 207–224, ISBN 9027241392
재외동포현황/Current Status of Overseas Compatriots, South Korea: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 2009, http://www.mofat.go.kr/consul/overseascitizen/compatriotcondition/index6.jsp?TabMenu=TabMenu6, retrieved 2009-05-21
"Europe", Overseas Korean Educational Institutions, Seoul: National Institute for International Education Development, 2007, http://www.interedu.go.kr/edu_net/overseas/sch_informal.htm?key=5, retrieved 2008-12-07

[edit] Further reading

Lim, Young-hee (November 2004), "History of Koreans in France", International Conference on Korean Historical Materials and the History of Koreans in Europe, University of Bonn

[edit] External links

Le Journal Hanweekly, a newspaper aimed at Koreans in France

[0] MOFAT 2009

[1] "Korean Buddhist organisations in France", World Buddhist Directory (Buddha Dharma Education Association), 2006, http://www.buddhanet.info/wbd/search.php?keyword=korean&prev_keyword%5B%5D=korean&newsearch=new&search=Begin+Search&country_id=62&province_id=0, retrieved 2009-03-09

[2] MOFAT 2009

[3] Lee 2006

[4] Lee-Le Neindre 2001, p. 1

[5] MOFAT 2009

[Lee-Le_Neindre_2001_p.3D2-6] Lee-Le Neindre 2001, p. 2

[7] Lee-Le Neindre 2001, p. 5

[8] Ventureyra & Palliere 2004, p. 208

[RFA-9] "프랑스 북한주민돕기위원회: “북한난민처리 기준 결의안 발의, 유럽의회에 올해 요청할 것”" (in Korean), Radio Free Asia, 2006-01-18, https://preview.rfaweb.org/korean/in_focus/french_human_rights_group_call_resolution_nk_refugee-20060118.html, retrieved 2007-05-30

[10] Lee 2006

[11] NIIED 2007, 파리한글학교

[12] NIIED 2007, 그르노블한국학교

[13] NIIED 2007, 뚜르즈한글학교

[14] NIIED 2007, 리용한글학교

[15] NIIED 2007, 스트라스부르그한글학교

[16] Lee 2006

[17] Lee-Le Neindre 2001, p. 3

[18] Lee-Le Neindre 2001, p. 5

[19] Yi, Yeong-jong (2006-09-18), "파리의 김정일 조카 장금송 비운의 러브스토리 (Unlucky love story of Kim Jong-il's niece in Paris)", JoongAng Ilbo, http://article.joins.com/article/article.asp?total_id=2450717, retrieved 2007-05-30

[20] Michael, Christopher (2008-04-09), "From despot’s PR man to Surrey salesman", The Spectator, http://www.spectator.co.uk/the-magazine/features/600861/from-despotandx2019s-pr-man-to-surrey-salesman.thtml, retrieved 2009-09-01

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