Koreans in Guatemala form one of the newest and fastest-growing
Korean diaspora
The Korean diaspora (South Korea: or , North Korea: or ) consists of around 7.3 million people, both descendants of early emigrants from the Korean Peninsula, as well as more recent emigres from Korea. Around 84.5% of overseas Koreans live in ...
communities in
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
.
Migration history
The first migrants from South Korea to
Guatemala did not arrive in the country until 1985, more than two decades after South Korean mass migration to Latin America began.
As recently as 1997, only 2,051 Koreans resided in the country, but by 2005, that number had almost quintupled to 9,944, surpassing the older community of
Koreans in Paraguay
Koreans in Paraguay formed one of the earliest Korean diaspora communities in Latin America. However, they were always overshadowed by the larger Korean communities in neighbouring Brazil and Argentina and since the late 1990s, their population ha ...
and giving Guatemala the fourth-largest Korean population in the region, behind Brazil,
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
and Mexico. From 2005 to 2009, the number of Koreans in the country remained roughly stable at 9,921 persons.
However, in the following two years the number of South Korean nationals in the country grew by 30%, reaching 12,918 persons. Among them 3,101 were permanent residents, 52 were
international student
International students, or foreign students, are students who undertake all or part of their tertiary education in a country other than their own and move to that country for the purpose of studying.
In 2019, there were over 6 million internati ...
s and 9,765 had other kinds of visas. The population exhibits gender imbalance, with 7,409 women (57%) compared to 5,509 men (43%), a
sex ratio
The sex ratio (or gender ratio) is usually defined as the ratio of males to females in a population. As explained by Fisher's principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually. Many species d ...
of 134 to 100. Almost all live in
Guatemala City
Guatemala City ( es, Ciudad de Guatemala), known locally as Guatemala or Guate, is the capital and largest city of Guatemala, and the most populous urban area in Central America. The city is located in the south-central part of the country, ne ...
, with only 38 recorded as living in
Antigua or other cities.
Business and employment
The earliest migrants were involved in the textiles industry, setting up factories to produce garments for export to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
market.
From 1988 to 1991, fifty South Korean-owned ''
maquilas'' opened in Guatemala. The value of their exports, at $150 million per year, comprised half of all Guatemalan apparel exports. As of 2001, there were thirty-three Korean restaurants in the capital; other Korean residents operate karaoke bars, mini-supermarkets, book cafes, and clothing stores. In some cases, wives and children remain in Guatemala doing business while their husbands return to Korea.
Products from South Korean-owned businesses are reported to make up 10% of Guatemala's total exports.
Community relations
Guatemalans perceive the Korean community as fairly insular and isolated.
South Korean media portray the Korean community in Guatemala as living in constant fear of their lives due to endemic violence in the country, a portrayal which the Guatemalan embassy in Seoul strongly disputes. According to the Korean embassy, twenty-four Koreans have become the victims of violent
crime in Guatemala between 2003 and 2008.
In March 2009, a pair of South Korean businessmen Sang Park and Bang Mal-sum were murdered in a suburb of the capital. Because they are involved in international business and thus believed to be rich, South Koreans are perceived by the general population as attractive targets for kidnapping, especially in comparison to Americans. In total in 13 months up to February 2010 there were eight cases of murders of South Koreans, along with numerous kidnappings.
In February 2010, two South Koreans who ran an illegal casino were arrested for the abduction and murder of Suong Kim, another South Korean who had won money in the casino.
Organisations
There is an Association of Koreans in Guatemala (Asociación de Coreanos en Guatemala), headed by Lim Byung-yeol. The association has organised a variety of activities, including a sports day at Parque la Democracia in May 2011. That year, the association also began conducting a statistical survey of the community.
There is also a Korean School of Guatemala (Colegio Coreano de Guatemala, ), which had 29 teachers and 170 students .
Octavio Kang, a graduate of the
Hankuk University of Foreign Studies
Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (abbreviated as HUFS; Korean: 한국외국어대학교) is a private research university based in Seoul, in South Korea. HUFS consistently ranks as one of the best universities in South Korea. The university ...
, publishes a newspaper aimed at the community; about three-tenths of its articles are about Guatemala and the Korean community there, with the rest concerning happenings in South Korea. However, it has only 350 subscribers.
References
External links
Colegio Coreano en GuatemalaAssociation of Koreans in Guatemala
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koreans In Guatemala
Asian Guatemalan
Ethnic groups in Guatemala
Korean Latin American
Guatemala
Korean diaspora in North America