Korean Chinese in Korea

Korean Chinese in Korea, also called Chaoxianzu in Korea (재한조선족, ) are Chaoxianzu (Chinese nationals of Korean ethnicity) mostly living in South Korea and Yanbian, with a South Korean visa or after having changed their nationality.

Korean Chinese in South Korea
According to a 2021 announcement by the Chinese government, the total global population of the Korean ethnic group with Chinese nationality stands at around 1.7 million, with Chaoxianzu in China comprising about 42% of the total Korean ethnic population, amounting to 700,000 individuals. The population of Chaoxianzu in Korea has been continuously increasing since the 1990s. In 2007, the population was confirmed to be 330,000, which increased to 443,836 by May 2009, 447,000 by April 2011, 498,000 by 2017, and 540,000 by 2019. Including naturalized citizens and permanent residents, the population of Chaoxianzu in Korea reaches 708,000, which is significantly higher than the population of Korean ethnicity residing in Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture (597,000 as of November 2020).

Additionally, as of the end of 2020, the total population of the Chaoxianzu in China was 1,702,479, comprising 872,372 females and 831,107 males. Due to long-standing diplomatic disconnect between China, a socialist state, and South Korea, an anti-communist state, interactions between the Korean ethnic group and South Korea were minimal.

Korean Chinese in North Korea
The turning point for Koreans who had migrated to China, but later returned in the opposite direction to the Korean Peninsula, was the fall of Japanese colonial rule. The peak of the return migration to the peninsula was about two years after liberation, during which time approximately 700,000 Koreans in China, equivalent to a third of their total population, returned. The return of Chaoxianzu took place in several phases from just before the outbreak of the Korean War until the early 1960s. Tens of thousands returned on the eve of the war, and during the war, tens of thousands more moved under the guise of support. After the armistice, North Korea's primary challenge in economic reconstruction was a labor shortage. The Chinese government organized the migration of Chaoxianzu to North Korea to assist with this reconstruction. When the Chinese government organized this migration, around 60,000 Chaoxianzu who identified with their peninsular roots migrated to North Korea and adopted North Korean citizenship. The massive illegal migration of Chaoxianzu to North Korea peaked in 1961 and 1962, with almost 100,000 "defectors from China" in less than two years. Throughout this migration, the Chinese government always respected North Korea's opinions and considered its stance. Of course, the notion of the Korean homeland provided the ideological and emotional foundation for everyday movements, and it's evident that this was the basis for the large-scale return of Chaoxianzu to North Korea. The movement to North Korea and the ethnic identity of Chaoxianzu are closely related. For those who either remained in China or returned after migrating to North Korea, the migratory process from liberation until the early 1960s was also a period when the Korean Peninsula's ethnic identity gradually dissolved and the identity of Chaoxianzu in China, which means the ethnic Korean with Chinese (PRC) citizenship was established.

Overall history
Korean Chinese soldiers affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party and Soviet army were incorporated into the North Korean army, and many ethnic Koreans participated in the Korean War. In fact, there were conflicts between Korean ethnic individuals and United States Army and South Koreans during the war. Due to differences in regime and other factors, interactions between the Korean ethnic group and South Korea were suspended for a long time. Up until the early 1990s, exchanges between the Korean Chinese and South Koreans were very limited.