[lg policy] KYRGYZSTAN: ETHNIC MINORITY EXPANDS TIES TO SOUTH KOREA

Fri Oct 23 14:38:27 UTC 2009

Eurasia Insight:
KYRGYZSTAN: ETHNIC MINORITY EXPANDS TIES TO SOUTH KOREA
Evan Sparling: 10/22/09

Sasha, a 17 year-old ethnic Korean student in Bishkek, only knows one
word in Korean: hello. She has lived all her life in the former Soviet
Union, speaks Russian, and physically resembles a Kyrgyz so much that
few can guess her true ethnicity. She does not even know when,
exactly, her relatives migrated to the Soviet Union. But none of this
stops her from emphatically declaring, "Of course I am proud to be
Korean."  Sasha is a member of an increasingly influential and active
community of nearly 20,000 ethnic Koreans residing in Kyrgyzstan. Some
of their ancestors fled Japanese invaders in the 1930s, moving into
the Soviet Far East. Later, during the Second World War, these Koreans
were suspected of being spies and exiled to Siberia and Central Asia,
where they eventually settled into post-war Soviet life.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, many members of minority groups in
Kyrgyzstan developed a sudden interest in their ancestry because, in
some cases, it enabled them to leave the country for more affluent
ethnic homelands. For example, the country's German, Polish and
Russian populations have declined significantly since independence.
But most Koreans have remained. This is in part because the government
of South Korea, unlike that of Germany and Poland, never established a
program to repatriate ethnic Koreans from Kyrgyzstan. "We have a
different approach," explained Kim Byung-ho, South Korea's ambassador
in Bishkek. "Let them live as ethnic Koreans, settle down, and live in
the mainstream. That is our priority."

Kim cited the enormous Korean diaspora throughout Asia, as well as the
difficulties that many ethnic Germans from Kyrgyzstan faced while
adjusting to life in Germany, as reasons for not encouraging the
return of Koreans. But, he added, "if they need to, and can contribute
to Korean society, we open up a chance." Seoul funds between 30 and 40
annual scholarships for ethnic Koreans residing in Kyrgyzstan, and
allows special visa preferences for guest workers. Vital to the effort
to spread Korean culture within Kyrgyzstan is the Korean Center of
Education, which opened in Bishkek in 2001. The center, explained one
employee who asked to remain anonymous, "is an official structure of
the government of South Korea, occupied with teaching the Korean
language and spreading Korean culture in Kyrgyzstan." Only about 40
percent of regular participants in free language classes, taught
mostly by South Koreans, are ethnically Korean. The rest are
"interested locals. Korea is very active right now, and people
recognize that it is a relevant language," said the employee.

Local Koreans have also begun to learn about their roots through
unofficial channels, especially Christian Korean missionaries who
arrived in Kyrgyzstan after independence. "Local Koreans felt close to
them, and began to meet with them because they wanted to learn about
their roots," explained a Kyrgyz-born ethnic Korean pastor of a
Bishkek evangelical church founded by a South Korean missionary. The
pastor, along with most Koreans interviewed by EurasiaNet, preferred
to speak on condition of anonymity. Korean evangelism was successful,
according to the pastor, because it filled the "spiritual void" left
by years of official Soviet atheism. Today, many in Kyrgyzstan's
Korean community attend Christian services regularly. "I am a
Christian," confirms Sasha, "most Koreans are Buddhists; but in
Kyrgyzstan, most are Christians."

Recent legal action in the Kyrgyz Republic may threaten the already
tenuous status of churches founded and supported by missionaries. In
January, Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev signed a law to "protect
citizens from so-called aggressive proselytism," the 24.kg news agency
quoted the director of the State Agency on Religious Affairs Kanibek
Osmonaliev as saying in April. The law stipulates that a religious
organization must have at least 200 members in order to be officially
registered. That's a hurdle that is hard to clear for small Protestant
churches or mission organizations. Ambassador Kim emphasized that
there is trepidation among local Koreans about the new law, which he
described as "vague," and which risks "backsliding to the old habits
of the Soviet Union." Reflecting this anxiety, religious leaders
refused to discuss issues relating to government policy.

But even while churches are feeling vulnerable, South Korean business
and cultural organizations are gaining influence. Bishkek is home to
several Korean restaurants, grocery stores, and Korean-language
newspapers. In October of 2008, South Korea opened a full diplomatic
mission in Bishkek, a sign of Korea's recognition of its citizens'
growing role in the Central Asian country's social and economic life.
The embassy estimates the number of South Korean citizens residing in
the Kyrgyz Republic is around 600, many of whom come to invest in
Kyrgyzstan's developing economy.

Although the embassy would not share statistics, Ambassador Kim says
that the amount of Korean investment in Kyrgyzstan is "modest, but not
so small as to be negligent." He cited several high-profile examples
of Korean investment, including a shoe-making factory in Osh, a potato
processing plant due to open in the Issyk-Kul Region, and a mobile
phone assembly facility in Bishkek. Additionally, the Korean
contractor Human Tech is constructing an 18-floor apartment building
in the south of Bishkek that the ambassador claimed will create "a new
norm" for construction in the Kyrgyz capital.

As they strengthen connections to their ancestral traditions, a
cultural gap is evident between younger Kyrgyzstan-born Koreans and
their elders. Many young ethnic Koreans, such as Sasha, are determined
to operate in the mainstream of Kyrgyz society, while their parents
are much more content to maintain cultural distinctions. "My mom and
dad want our nation, our people, to continue," explained Sasha. With a
smile, she added, "if they found out I have a Kyrgyz boyfriend, they
would be furious."

Editor's Note: Evan Sparling is an independent researcher in Kyrgyzstan.

 http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insightb/articles/eav102209a.shtml

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