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British Koreans () are people of Korean ethnicity 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.
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.
| + Koreans in Europe |
| 876 |
| 1,070 |
| 1,434 |
| 2,050 |
| 3,174 |
| 13,055 |
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".
Some historic census estimates exist for those born in South Korea and North Korea, but these details are incomplete:
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| 12,310 | |||
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| 92 | |||
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| 135 | |||
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.All South Korean citizens intending to reside overseas for more than 90 days are required by law to register with the South Korean consulate nearest their overseas residence. Failure to register can have negative consequences for taxes and real estate purchases, and overseas-born children who are not registered may have difficulty enrolling in South Korean schools. See 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.
Other areas with a Korean presence include Golders Green, where Korean and Japanese immigrants have been visibly replacing the older, diminishing Jewish community.
Of the total of 392 North Korean-born residents recorded by the 2011 census, 251 lived in Greater London, 47 in North-West England and 30 in Yorkshire and the Humber.
A smaller number of Koreans in the UK observe Buddhism.
A 2006 study of Korean businesses in Kingston upon Thames noted that Korean business owners' unfamiliarity with commercial practices in the UK, along with language barriers, have sometimes led them into conflict with governmental regulators; the Health and Safety Executive noted that Korean barbecue restaurants are especially problematic in this regard, as they often imported small, uncertified table-top gas cookers directly from South Korea for self-installation, rather than hiring a registered gas engineer to install and inspect them, and took no corrective action when issued with warnings. The language barrier is compounded by the lack of translators; one Korean translator estimated that she had only four or five competitors in the entire country. Today, most South Koreans speak English and many high-quality restaurants can be found in London's West End. Harden's London Restaurants 2015
Religion
The census in the United Kingdom does not have a separate category for Koreans and, hence, does not provide religious breakdown. However, as with Koreans in other contexts, Protestant churches have played an important social and cultural role in the Korean immigrant community in the United Kingdom. Korean immigrants have often participated in mainstream English-speaking churches in the United Kingdom. But some have also attended churches which are explicitly conducted in Korean language. Some Korean immigrant churches will also conduct youth group services and activities in English language; this has aided in preventing the attrition of Korean language abilities among locally born Korean youth. Denominations with Korean-language services in New Malden include the Church of England and the Methodist Church.
Business
21% of all Korean-owned businesses in the UK, are located in the New Malden area. The first Korean restaurant in New Malden was established in 1991. Other Korean businesses in the area include hairdressers, stationery shops, travel agents, and Korean-language child care services; there used to be a bookstore selling imported Korean novels, but it closed down. Two rival Korean-language newspapers are also published there. Korean grocers do good business, as Korean food products, unlike those from India or Japan, tend to be unavailable from mainstream retailers such as Tesco. While Korean food has not historically been as popular as Chinese food, and Korean restaurants in London have been described as "mostly student hang-outs, offering simple food at bargain prices", it is gaining popularity, particularly in the gourmet street food market.
Notable people
See also
Footnotes
Further reading
External links
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> Go Korea (Korean Tourist Organisation)
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