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British Koreans AI simulator
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British Koreans AI simulator
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British Koreans
British Koreans (Korean: 재영 한인) are people of Korean ethnic descent who reside in the United Kingdom. They include Korean-born migrants to the United Kingdom and their British-born descendants tracing ancestries from North Korea and South Korea.
The United Kingdom was the first European country to establish diplomatic relations with South Korea in 18 January 1949. This opened the possibility for the first Korean migrants to the UK. Larger-scale migration only happened after the 1980s, when South Korean policies enabled its citizens to travel, study, and work overseas.
Comparatively, Germany during the 1960s and 1970s invited South Koreans to fill their labour shortage. Germany employed some 11,000 Korean nurses and nursing assistants and 8,000 miners during this time. However, with the economic development of South Korea in the 1990s, the United Kingdom became an increasingly attractive destination. South Korean companies established branches in the United Kingdom. Many South Koreans also moved to the United Kingdom for study or to establish small private businesses. In the first decade of the 2000s, the Koreans in the United Kingdom exceeded those in Germany.
Since the early 2000s, the United Kingdom has hosted the largest North Korean populations outside of East Asia. Many are secondary refugee migrants, first fleeing to South Korea before resettling in the United Kingdom, often in the New Malden region of London. The number of North Koreans claiming asylum in the UK peaked at 412 in 2007, having risen from only 45 in 2006. Numbers then dropped to 185 in 2008, and ranged between 20 and 37 per annum between 2009 and 2014. According to UNHCR statistics, 622 recognised refugees and 59 asylum seekers from North Korea were present in the UK in 2014.
The UK grants asylum only to defectors who come directly from North Korea. In 2008, it was reported that 180 asylum seekers had had their applications rejected after police checks revealed that they had previously resided in South Korea (and thus had residency rights and citizenship there, in accordance with the South Korean constitution). Some of the alleged North Korean defectors may also be ethnic Koreans from China who purchased North Korean documents so that they could attempt to gain refugee status in developed countries. Efforts by UK Visas and Immigration and predecessors to identify fake defectors have not always been successful and have also been known to misclassify actual defectors as fake ones. In September 2014, an asylum tribunal dismissed the appeal of several North Koreans, ruling that the "appellants are South Korean citizens and their asylum appeal must fail".
The population of British Koreans is hard to assess. The census in the United Kingdom has not generally had a separate category for Korean ethnicity. This changed in the 2021 census when, for the first time, the census for England and Wales added "Asian, Asian British or Asian Welsh: Korean" as a choice. This recorded a total of 21,118.
Some historic census estimates exist for those born in South Korea and North Korea, but these details are incomplete:
South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs maintains its own records of Koreans overseas, regardless of whether or not they are current South Korean citizens, and regardless of birthplace. In 2011, it reported 45,295 Koreans registered as living in the UK. Among those recorded, 3,839 were British citizens, 9,170 had indefinite leave to remain, 19,000 were international students, and the other 14,820 had other kinds of visas. About two-thirds resided in the London area. In 2019, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported a drop in the number of Koreans living in the UK, to 40,770.
British Koreans
British Koreans (Korean: 재영 한인) are people of Korean ethnic descent who reside in the United Kingdom. They include Korean-born migrants to the United Kingdom and their British-born descendants tracing ancestries from North Korea and South Korea.
The United Kingdom was the first European country to establish diplomatic relations with South Korea in 18 January 1949. This opened the possibility for the first Korean migrants to the UK. Larger-scale migration only happened after the 1980s, when South Korean policies enabled its citizens to travel, study, and work overseas.
Comparatively, Germany during the 1960s and 1970s invited South Koreans to fill their labour shortage. Germany employed some 11,000 Korean nurses and nursing assistants and 8,000 miners during this time. However, with the economic development of South Korea in the 1990s, the United Kingdom became an increasingly attractive destination. South Korean companies established branches in the United Kingdom. Many South Koreans also moved to the United Kingdom for study or to establish small private businesses. In the first decade of the 2000s, the Koreans in the United Kingdom exceeded those in Germany.
Since the early 2000s, the United Kingdom has hosted the largest North Korean populations outside of East Asia. Many are secondary refugee migrants, first fleeing to South Korea before resettling in the United Kingdom, often in the New Malden region of London. The number of North Koreans claiming asylum in the UK peaked at 412 in 2007, having risen from only 45 in 2006. Numbers then dropped to 185 in 2008, and ranged between 20 and 37 per annum between 2009 and 2014. According to UNHCR statistics, 622 recognised refugees and 59 asylum seekers from North Korea were present in the UK in 2014.
The UK grants asylum only to defectors who come directly from North Korea. In 2008, it was reported that 180 asylum seekers had had their applications rejected after police checks revealed that they had previously resided in South Korea (and thus had residency rights and citizenship there, in accordance with the South Korean constitution). Some of the alleged North Korean defectors may also be ethnic Koreans from China who purchased North Korean documents so that they could attempt to gain refugee status in developed countries. Efforts by UK Visas and Immigration and predecessors to identify fake defectors have not always been successful and have also been known to misclassify actual defectors as fake ones. In September 2014, an asylum tribunal dismissed the appeal of several North Koreans, ruling that the "appellants are South Korean citizens and their asylum appeal must fail".
The population of British Koreans is hard to assess. The census in the United Kingdom has not generally had a separate category for Korean ethnicity. This changed in the 2021 census when, for the first time, the census for England and Wales added "Asian, Asian British or Asian Welsh: Korean" as a choice. This recorded a total of 21,118.
Some historic census estimates exist for those born in South Korea and North Korea, but these details are incomplete:
South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs maintains its own records of Koreans overseas, regardless of whether or not they are current South Korean citizens, and regardless of birthplace. In 2011, it reported 45,295 Koreans registered as living in the UK. Among those recorded, 3,839 were British citizens, 9,170 had indefinite leave to remain, 19,000 were international students, and the other 14,820 had other kinds of visas. About two-thirds resided in the London area. In 2019, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported a drop in the number of Koreans living in the UK, to 40,770.