Korean New Zealanders (
Korean
Korean may refer to:
People and culture
* Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula
* Korean cuisine
* Korean culture
* Korean language
**Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl
**Korean dialects and the Jeju language
** ...
: 한국계 뉴질랜드인), also referred to informally as Korean Kiwis, Kokis or Kowis, are
New Zealand citizens and residents of
Korean ancestry. The 2018 New Zealand census found 35,664 Koreans in the country, virtually all from
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
, making them the third-largest Asian population there, and more than 0.75 percent of the total population of
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
.
Migration history
The Korean population in New Zealand has been affected by New Zealand immigration policies. Until a policy change made in 1987, preference was given to English-speaking migrants, especially those from
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...
countries. In 1991 a new policy took effect in which potential migrants were ranked according to a points system based on factors such as education, occupation and wealth. This made it far easier for people from Korea and other Asian countries to migrate to New Zealand, and dramatically increased the number of Korean New Zealanders.
In 1986, there were only 426 Koreans in New Zealand; that had doubled to 903 by 1991, and their population growth accelerated throughout the first half of the 1990s; there were roughly 3,000 people of Korean descent in New Zealand in 1992, according to unofficial estimates, and by the time of the 1996 Census, their population had quadrupled to 12,657 individuals, making them the fastest-growing population group. Growth slowed after that, with only a further 50% increase in the Korean population by 2001.
Thus, majority of Korean New Zealanders living in New Zealand in the early 21st century are South Korean-born naturalised citizens or permanent residents.
Demography
There were 35,664 people identifying as being part of the Korean ethnic group at the
2018 New Zealand census
Eighteen or 18 may refer to:
* 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19
* one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018
Film, television and entertainment
* ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the sho ...
, making up 0.8% of New Zealand's population. This is an increase of 5,493 people (18.2%) since the
2013 census, and an increase of 4,872 people (15.8%) since the
2006 census
6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number.
In mathematics
Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...
. Some of the increase between the 2013 and 2018 census was due to
Statistics New Zealand
Statistics New Zealand ( mi, Tatauranga Aotearoa), branded as Stats NZ, is the public service department of New Zealand charged with the collection of statistics related to the economy, population and society of New Zealand. To this end, Stats ...
adding ethnicity data from other sources (previous censuses, administrative data, and imputation) to the 2018 census data to reduce the number of non-responses.
There were 18,933 females and 16,731 males, giving a sex ratio of 0.884 males per female. The median age was 33.2 years (compared with 37.4 years for New Zealand as a whole), with 6,297 people (17.7%) were aged under 15 years, 9,711 (27.2%) were 15 to 29, 17,709 (49.7%) were 30 to 64, and 1,947 (5.5%) were 65 or older.
In terms of population distribution, 70.2% of Korean New Zealanders lived in the Auckland region, 15.8% lived in the North Island outside the Auckland region, and 14.0% lived in the South Island. The
Upper Harbour local board area
Upper may refer to:
* Shoe upper or ''vamp'', the part of a shoe on the top of the foot
* Stimulant, drugs which induce temporary improvements in either mental or physical function or both
* ''Upper'', the original film title for the 2013 found f ...
of Auckland had the highest concentration of Korean people at 6.9%, followed by the
Devonport-Takapuna local board area (5.1%) and the
Kaipātiki local board area
Kaipātiki is a local government area in New Zealand's Auckland Region, governed by the Kaipātiki Local Board and Auckland Council. It currently aligns with the council's North Shore Ward.
Geography
It includes the suburbs of Totara Vale, W ...
(3.6%).
Christchurch City had the highest concentration of Korean people outside of Auckland at 0.9%. Seven districts recorded no Korean people in their respective areas:
Great Barrier Island
Great Barrier Island ( mi, Aotea) lies in the outer Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand, north-east of central Auckland. With an area of it is the sixth-largest island of New Zealand and fourth-largest in the main chain. Its highest point, Mount Hobson ...
,
Ōtorohanga District
Ōtorohanga District is a territorial municipality in the King Country area and Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is a mostly rural area, with Otorohanga town being by far the biggest urban area, with a population nearing 3,0 ...
,
Ōpōtiki District
Ōpōtiki District is a territorial authority district in the North Island of New Zealand. The Ōpōtiki District Council is headquartered in the largest town, Ōpōtiki. The district falls within the Bay of Plenty region. Lyn Riesterer has be ...
,
Central Hawke's Bay District
Central Hawke's Bay District is part of the Hawke's Bay Region in the North Island of New Zealand. Formed in 1989, it has an area of 3,333 square kilometres with a population of It had a population of 12,717 people as of the 2013 census. This is ...
,
Carterton District
Carterton ( mi, Taratahi) is a small town in the Wellington Region of New Zealand and the seat of the Carterton District (a territorial authority or local government district). It lies in a farming area of the Wairarapa in New Zealand's North Isl ...
,
South Wairarapa District
The South Wairarapa District is a district at the south-east tip of the North Island of New Zealand, governed by the South Wairarapa District Council. The district comprises the southernmost part of the Wairarapa, and is part of the Wellington Reg ...
, and the
Chatham Islands
The Chatham Islands ( ) (Moriori: ''Rēkohu'', 'Misty Sun'; mi, Wharekauri) are an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean about east of New Zealand's South Island. They are administered as part of New Zealand. The archipelago consists of about te ...
.
The proportion of Korean New Zealanders born overseas was 85.3%, compared with 27.1% for all ethnicities. Nearly three-quarters (73.9%) of those born in New Zealand were aged under 30.
The 2018 census recorded 76.3% of Korean New Zealanders were able to speak English conversationally, compared to 95.4% for New Zealand as a whole.
Women outnumbered men in every age group besides 15 and under; the imbalance was most severe in the 25-39 age group, with only 71 men for every 100 women. This gender gap is mainly the result of the so-called
astronaut family
An astronaut family is a family unit where the members reside in different countries across the world—in contrast to a "nuclear family". The astronaut family represents the growing transnationalism of peoples' identities that accompanies the grow ...
phenomenon, also seen among
Chinese New Zealander
Chinese New Zealanders ( mi, Tāngata Hainamana o Aotearoa; ) or Sino-New Zealanders are New Zealanders of Chinese ancestry. The largest subset of Asian New Zealanders, many of the Chinese immigrants came from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, ...
s and Koreans in other countries, in which husbands who found their earning power decreased after emigration returned to their country of origin while their wives and children remained in the destination country.
Education and language issues
The desire to offer children a lower-pressure educational experience in an English-speaking country, as well as a cleaner environment, is a major motivation for Korean migration to New Zealand.
Of the 7,696 Koreans pursuing secondary or tertiary education in New Zealand as of 2001, 50% were studying in
English as a second language
English as a second or foreign language is the use of English by speakers with different native languages. Language education for people learning English may be known as English as a second language (ESL), English as a foreign language (EF ...
courses.
1.5 generation Koreans who migrated at a young age show a marked shift towards English regardless of which region their parents settled in, but among those who migrated at the age of 16 or older, Wellington residents also showed a much stronger preference for English, while those in other regions maintained Korean as their preferred language.
In the 1996 census, 40.7% of Koreans stated that they could not hold a conversation in English, the highest proportion for any group; however, by the 2001 census, that figure had decreased to 21% for males and 27% for females.
Korean New Zealanders maintain close contact with their homeland through return trips or with technologies such as phones and emails; one 1998 survey showed that 61% of overseas trips undertaken by Korean New Zealanders had South Korea as their destination. Australia and Japan were the next most popular destinations.
In addition, young Korean New Zealanders make extensive use of Korean language internet portal sites such as
Cyworld
Cyworld () is a South Korean social network service. Cyworld was originally part of SK communication, and became an independent company in 2014. Members cultivate relationships by forming ''Ilchon'' (, Hanja: ) or "friendships" with each other ...
and
KakaoTalk
KakaoTalk (Hangul: 카카오톡), commonly referred to as KaTalk (Hangul: 카톡) in South Korea, is a mobile messaging app for smartphones operated by Kakao Corporation. It was launched on March 18, 2010, and it is available on mobile and deskto ...
in order to communicate with friends in South Korea; this has resulted in Korean New Zealanders retaining a far better command of Korean than their
Korean American
Korean Americans are Americans of Korean ancestry (mostly from South Korea). In 2015, the Korean-American community constituted about 0.56% of the United States population, or about 1.82 million people, and was the fifth-largest Asian Americans ...
counterparts.
Religion
70% of Koreans in New Zealand identify as Christians, while roughly another 20% claim to follow no religion. Buddhists number only about 5%.
One Christian newspaper estimates that roughly 35-40% of all Koreans are "active Christians" who regularly attend worship services, mostly at one of New Zealand's 100 Korean churches. Korean Christians in New Zealand are largely of the
Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
denomination, though some are also
Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...
. They attend non-Korean churches less often due to language barriers and cultural differences within the church. In Korean churches, the pastor has much more authority, and many churches open as early as 5AM for morning prayers. New Zealand's Korean Christians are served by a weekly Christian newspaper published in the Korean language, which claims to have a circulation of 3,500; it discusses religious issues as well as issues of common interest to immigrants, such as migration law and property ownership.
Notable people
*
Michael Cho
The shooting of Michael Sungman Cho occurred on December 31, 2007, in the Orange County city of La Habra, California. Cho, a 25-year-old Korean-American artist, was brandishing a tire iron outside a store and was shot by two police officers. Th ...
, One of first migrants born in New Zealand and also national winner of Smokefree Rockquest 2007.
*
Lydia Ko
Lydia Ko (born 24 April 1997) is a New Zealand professional golfer and the No. 1-ranked woman professional golfer. She first achieved the top ranking on 2 February 2015 at of age, making her the youngest player of either gender to be ranked ...
, youngest-ever winner of an
LPGA
The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekl ...
Tour event, youngest no.1 golfer.
*
Danny Lee, youngest winner of the
U.S. Amateur
The United States Amateur Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Amateur, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for amateur golfers. It is organized by the United States Golf Association and is currently held each August ov ...
of golf
*
Melissa Lee
Melissa Ji-Yun Lee ( ko, 이지연; born 1966) is a New Zealand politician. She was elected to the House of Representatives as a list MP for the National Party in the 2008 election. , she is the National Party's spokesperson for broadcasting, ...
, New Zealand's first MP of Korean origin
*
Roseanne Park, New Zealand born K-Pop idol, member of South Korean girl group
Blackpink
Blackpink (, commonly stylized in all caps or as BLɅϽKPIИK) is a South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment, consisting of members Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa. The group debuted in August 2016 with their single album ''Square ...
*
Microdot
A microdot is text or an image substantially reduced in size to prevent detection by unintended recipients. Microdots are normally circular and around in diameter but can be made into different shapes and sizes and made from various materials su ...
, South Korean-New Zealand rapper
*
Bizzy
Park Jun-young (Hangul: 박준영), better known as Bizzy (Hangul: 비지), is a South Korea-based rapper and member of the hip-hop trio MFBTY. He is an affiliate of YDG's, Yucka Squad, and also the hip-hop crew, The Movement. He became more know ...
, New Zealand-Korean rapper and producer
*
Beenzino
Lim Sung-bin (; born September 12, 1987), better known by the stage name Beenzino (Hangul: 빈지노), is a South Korean rapper. His stage name is a play on that of Boston rapper Benzino, combined with "빈" (pronounced "been") from his birth ...
, South Korean rapper
See also
*
Demographics of New Zealand
The demographics of New Zealand encompass the gender, ethnic, religious, geographic, and economic backgrounds of the 5.1 million people living in New Zealand. New Zealanders predominantly live in urban areas on the North Island. The five large ...
References
https://www.scmp.com/culture/music/article/2163713/rose-blackpink-new-zealand-born-k-pop-singer-unique-voice-and
Further reading
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{{Use dmy dates, date=April 2020
Asian New Zealander
Korean diaspora in Oceania
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...