JOY ELLEN YOON — Untold Story of Koreans in Japan

Japan hosts the third largest population of Koreans outside of the Korean Peninsula. During the Japanese occupation of Korea from 1910 to 1945, thousands of Korean laborers migrated to Japan. In the 1920’s, Korean migrants made up gaps in the mining, construction, and farming industries of Japan. By 1930, Korean families represented a sizeable ethnic group in most Japanese cities.

Most of these Koreans came from regions of South Korea geographically close to Japan, such as Jeju Island and North and South Gyeongsang Provinces. Once World War II broke out, Japan needed more wartime labor and enforced migration of up to 800,000 Koreans. As a result, by the end of World War II, over two million Koreans were stranded in Japan.

Most Koreans desired to relocate back to Korea after the war, but there was one major problem for Koreans to repatriate back. After decades of living in Japan, many of them had lost touch with their roots, including the Korean language.

Therefore, in 1945 the first Korean schools in Japan were built. These schools served to provide language instruction for Koreans throughout Japan. 2-2.4 million Koreans residing in Japan needed to relearn the Korean language and way of life. Schools were established to help prepare Koreans to return to their motherland.

By 1947, 1.4 million Koreans returned to South Korea. The 600,000 to 1 million Koreans who remained in Japan continued to prepare to return, and by 1948, 586 Korean schools were built, servicing approximately 60,000 Korean students across the nation. The hope was that through education the remaining population of Koreans would eventually make their way back to reintegrating into Korean society.

Although approximately half of the Korean population returned to Korea, close to 1 million Koreans were unable to return. Immediately after World War II, the U.S. occupied Japan, helping rebuild the nation from the catastrophic aftermath of two atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Along with this American presence, the Treaty of San Francisco from 1945 to 1952 forcibly closed all Korean schools by April 1948. The Treaty of San Francisco was key in restoring Japan’s sovereignty post-World War II, but at the same time the Cold War was intensifying between North and South Korea as well as the U.S. and U.S.S.R. Koreans in Japan were discriminated against because fear of communism was growing. Following the Treaty of San Francisco, U.S. soldiers and Japanese police stormed Korean schools in Japan physically forcing the removal of students and nailing Korean school doors shut.

Forceful Closure of Korean Schools in Japan from 1945-1952

One side-effect of Korean liberation post-World War II was that Koreans residing in Japan became stateless. They were asked to choose nationality based upon a divided Korea or Japan. Many Koreans had difficulty choosing between the two Korean nations. They claimed that they came from a united Korea. Consequently, four different groups of Koreans emerged in Japan. Some Koreans chose to remain stateless because of the impossibility of choosing one nation over the other. The remaining Koreans made the impossible choice to choose nationality amongst three nations: North Korea (DPRK), South Korea (ROK), and Japan.

Koreans had just been liberated from Japanese occupation, but instead of celebrating freedom, these actions killed the hopes of hundreds of thousands of Koreans to return to their homeland. On April 24, 1948, the largest protest by ethnic Koreans in Kobe, Japan advocated for Korean education. General Eichelberger responded by ordering a “Korean Hunt” to arrest anyone who looked like a Korean and ordered a “shoot to kill” gun down of Koreans who opposed orders. This injustice came to a head when the military police shot and killed a 16-year-old boy named Kim Tae-il in 1949. All Korean schools in Japan remained closed.

Desperate to maintain their ethnic identity and prepare for repatriation back to Korea, Koreans in Japan requested support from both North and South Korea. Because of U.S. influence in the South, South Korea denied Korean-Japanese requests for assistance. However, North Korea replied and granted $250 million USD from 1957-1984 for the education of Koreans in Japan. North Korea continues to provide financial assistance to this day.

Post 1950, South Korea denied any further repatriation of Koreans residing in Japan. But North Korea welcomed approximately 93,340 Koreans from Japan from 1958 to 1984. As a result, the relationship between Korean schools and North Korea ensured the preservation of Korean people’s ethnic identity in Japan.

Because of this support, many Koreans residing in Japan initially chose DPRK citizenship. Over the years, that number has significantly dwindled. This decline is largely due to Japanese sanctions and pressures against North Korea. As of 2023, there are approximately 410,000 South Korean citizens in Japan and about 24,822 stateless individuals. North Korea citizens have drastically reduced in recent years to less than 30,000 people, but there are still 64 Korean schools operating in Japan. They are located in every province of Japan and serve to help Koreans maintain their language and cultural heritage.

Korean residents have lived in Japan now for up to five generations. They have a hybrid ethnic identity that integrates both Korean home and Japanese host cultures. While older generations tend to hold a strong sense of ethnic identity, young generations appear to form a hybrid ethnic identity that builds a sense of belonging in both home and host communities.

Unfortunately, Korean Japanese are at a cross-roads as political tensions escalate in east Asia. These tensions are demanding more adaptation into Japanese society as well as critical evaluation of their relationship with North Korea. Even still, because of their unique cross-cultural identity, Koreans in Japan could be instrumental in serving as peacemakers throughout northeast Asia, particularly between DPRK, ROK, and Japan.