View source for Koreans

{{Short description|East Asian ethnic group}} 
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{EngvarB|date=January 2024}}

{{Infobox ethnic group
| group            = Koreans
| native_name      = {{lang|ko|한민족}}{{*}}{{lang|ko|조선민족}}
| pop              = '''{{circa}} {{sigfig|85.680466|2}} million'''<ref name="Kor">{{Cite web|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/kor/|title=Korean|publisher=Ethnologue|access-date=5 November 2023}}</ref>
[[File:Map of the Korean Diaspora in the World.svg|center|frameless|260x260px]]
| regions          = {{flag| South Korea }}{{nbsp|6}} {{circa}} 52,081,799 {{small|(2024)}}{{efn| In 2024, 95.1% of South Korea population was South Korean by nationality and 4.9% were of foreign nationality. South Korea is thus considered one of the most ethnically homogeneous societies in the world. Precise number of ethnic Koreans specifically is difficult to estimate since South Korean statistics do not record ethnicity. Furthermore, many immigrants are repatriated ethnic Koreans themselves while unknown number of South Korean citizens are not ethnically Korean which skews any statistical estimate. Some of the largest groups of immigrants are ethnic Koreans from [[China]] (''[[Koreans in China|Joseonjok]]''), [[Japan]] (''[[Koreans in Japan|Zainichi]]'') and the former [[Soviet Union]] (''[[Koryo-saram]]'').}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2020/07/742_283632.html|title=Foreign population in Korea tops 2.5 million|date=24 February 2020|website=[[The Korea Times]]|access-date=20 January 2023|archive-date=16 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200716152028/http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2020/07/742_283632.html|url-status=live}}</ref><br/>{{flag| North Korea }}{{nbsp|6}} 26,298,666 (2024){{efn|Due to the country's isolationist policies, North Korea is presumed to be almost entirely homogeneous.}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=KP |title=Worldbank, 2020 |access-date=27 February 2022 |archive-date=27 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220227153353/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=KP |url-status=live}}</ref><br/>
'''Diaspora {{as of|2021|lc=on}}'''<br/>{{circa}} 7.3 million<ref name="MOFA">{{Cite book|publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs|location=South Korea|year=2021|access-date=21 August 2022|url=http://www.mofa.go.kr/www/wpge/m_21509/contents.do|script-title=ko:재외동포현황(2021)/Total number of overseas Koreans (2021)|archive-date=24 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224142945/http://www.mofa.go.kr/www/wpge/m_21509/contents.do|url-status=live|page=38}}</ref>
| region1          = {{flagcountry|United States}}
| pop1             = [[Korean Americans|2,633,777]]
| ref1             = <ref name="MOFA"/>
| region2          = {{flag|China}}
| pop2             = [[Koreans in China|2,109,727]]{{efn|This includes South Korean and North Korean people in China. Korean with Chinese citizenship is referred to in China as ''[[Chaoxianzu|Joseonjok]]'' in Korean and ''[[Chaoxianzu]]'' in [[Mandarin Chinese]].}}
| ref2             = <ref>{{cite web |url=http://oka.go.kr/oka/information/know/status/ |script-title=ko:재외동포 현황 |trans-title=Current status of overseas Koreans |year=2023 |publisher=Office of Overseas Koreans, Republic of Korea |website=oka.go.kr |access-date=4 January 2024 |archive-date=14 November 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241114164042/https://www.oka.go.kr/oka/information/know/status/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| region3          = {{flagcountry|Japan}}
| pop3             = [[Koreans in Japan|818,865]]{{efn|Referred to in Japan as ''[[Koreans in Japan|Zainichi]]'' in Japanese.}}
| ref3             = <ref name="MOFA"/>
| region4          = {{flagcountry|Canada}}
| pop4             = [[Korean Canadians|237,364]]
| ref4             = <ref name="MOFA"/>
| region5          = {{flagcountry|Uzbekistan}}
| pop5             = [[Koreans in Uzbekistan|175,865]]{{efn|Koreans of Uzbekistan are part of the wider ''[[Koryo-saram]]'' identity.}}
| ref5             = <ref name="MOFA"/>
| region6          = {{flagcountry|Russia}}
| pop6             = [[Koreans in Russia|168,526]]{{efn|Koreans of Russia are part of the wider ''[[Koryo-saram]]'' identity.}}
| ref6             = <ref name="MOFA"/>
| region7          = {{flagcountry|Australia}}
| pop7             = [[Korean Australians|158,103]]
| ref7             = <ref name="MOFA"/>
| region8          = {{flagcountry|Vietnam}}
| pop8             = [[Koreans in Vietnam|156,330]]
| ref8             = <ref name="MOFA"/>
| region9          = {{flagcountry|Kazakhstan}}
| pop9             = [[Koreans in Kazakhstan|109,495]]{{efn|Koreans of Kazkahstan are part of the wider ''[[Koryo-saram]]'' identity.}}
| ref9             = <ref name="MOFA"/>
| region10         = {{flagcountry|Germany}}
| pop10            = [[Koreans in Germany|47,428]]
| ref10            = <ref name="MOFA"/>
| region11         = {{flagcountry|United Kingdom}}
| pop11            = [[British Koreans|36,690]]
| ref11            = <ref name="MOFA"/>
| region12         = {{flagcountry|Brazil}}
| pop12            = [[Koreans in Brazil|36,540]]
| ref12            = <ref name="MOFA"/>
| region13         = {{flagcountry|New Zealand}}
| pop13            = [[Korean New Zealanders|33,812]]
| ref13            = <ref name="MOFA"/>
| region14         = {{flagcountry|Philippines}}
| pop14            = [[Koreans in the Philippines|33,032]]
| ref14            = <ref name="MOFA"/>
| region15         = {{flagcountry|France}}
| pop15            = [[Koreans in France|29,367]]
| ref15            = <ref name="MOFA"/>
| region16         = {{flagcountry|Argentina}}
| pop16            = [[Koreans in Argentina|22,847]]
| ref16            = <ref name="MOFA"/>
| region17         = {{flagcountry|Singapore}}
| pop17            = [[Koreans in Singapore|20,983]]
| ref17            = <ref name="MOFA"/>
| region18         = {{flagcountry|Thailand}}
| pop18            = [[Koreans in Thailand|18,130]]
| ref18            = <ref name="MOFA"/>
| region19         = {{flagcountry|Kyrgyzstan}}
| pop19            = [[Koreans in Kyrgyzstan|18,106]]
| ref19            = <ref name="MOFA"/>
| region20         = {{flagcountry|Indonesia}}
| pop20            = [[Koreans in Indonesia|17,297]]
| ref20            = <ref name="MOFA"/>
| region21         = {{flagcountry|Malaysia}}
| pop21            = [[Koreans in Malaysia|13,667]]
| ref21            = <ref name="MOFA"/>
| region22         = {{flagcountry|Ukraine}}
| pop22            = [[Koreans in Ukraine|13,524]]{{efn|Koreans of Ukraine are part of the wider ''[[Koryo-saram]]'' identity.}}
| ref22            = <ref name="MOFA"/>
| region23         = {{flagcountry|Hong Kong}}
| pop23            = [[Koreans in Hong Kong|13,288]]
| region24         = {{flagcountry|Sweden}}
| pop24            = [[Koreans in Sweden|13,055]]
| ref24            = <ref name="MOFA"/>
| region25         = {{flag|Guatemala}}
| pop25            = [[Koreans in Guatemala|12,918]]
| ref25            = <ref name="MOFAT2011">{{citation|url=http://www.mofat.go.kr/webmodule/htsboard/template/read/korboardread.jsp?typeID=6&boardid=232&seqno=334627&c=&t=&pagenum=1&tableName=TYPE_DATABOARD&pc=&dc=&wc=&lu=&vu=&iu=&du=|script-title=ko:재외동포 본문(지역별 상세)|publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade|date=2011-07-15|access-date=2012-02-25}}</ref>{{rp|142}}
| region26         = {{flagcountry|Mexico}}
| pop26            = [[Koreans in Mexico|11,107]]
| ref26            = <ref name="MOFA"/>
| region27         = {{flagcountry|India}}
| pop27            = [[Koreans in India|10,674]]
| ref27            = <ref name="MOFA"/>
| region28         = {{flagcountry|Cambodia}}
| pop28            = [[Koreans in Cambodia|10,608]]
| ref28            = <ref name="MOFA"/>
| region29         = {{flagcountry|Netherlands}}
| pop29            = [[Koreans in the Netherlands|9,473]]
| ref29            = <ref name="MOFA"/>
| region30         = {{flag|United Arab Emirates}}
| pop30            = [[Koreans in the United Arab Emirates|9,227]]
| ref30            = <ref name="OKA">{{Cite book|publisher=Overseas Koreans Agency|location=South Korea|year=2023|access-date=2024-09-07|url=https://oka.go.kr/oka/information/know/status/;jsessionid=t01O8I5Ku691X68lpVC4hfDdaws3LAL8UveexiKARYfOrb0dzUJxVa1zUm2BsBTL.blue1_servlet_engine24|script-title=ko:다수거주 국가 현황|archive-date=11 December 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241211060937/https://oka.go.kr/oka/information/know/status/;jsessionid=t01O8I5Ku691X68lpVC4hfDdaws3LAL8UveexiKARYfOrb0dzUJxVa1zUm2BsBTL.blue1_servlet_engine24|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| region31         = {{flagcountry|Denmark}}
| pop31            = [[Koreans in Denmark|8,694]]
| ref31            = <ref name="MOFA"/>
| region32         = {{flagcountry|Norway}}
| pop32            = [[Koreans in Norway|7,744]]
| ref32            = <ref name="MOFA"/>
| region33         = {{flagcountry|Paraguay}}
| pop33            = [[Koreans in Paraguay|5,205]]
| ref33            = <ref name="MOFAT2011" />{{rp|171}}
| region34         = {{flagcountry|Saudi Arabia}}
| pop34            = [[Koreans in the Arab world|5,189]]
| ref34            = <ref name="MOFAT2015">{{cite book |date=2015 |language=ko-kr |script-title=ko:재외동포현황 |trans-title=Current Status of Overseas Compatriots |url=http://www.index.go.kr/potal/main/EachDtlPageDetail.do?idx_cd=1682 |location=South Korea |publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade |access-date=2 August 2016}}</ref>
| region35         = {{flagcountry|Taiwan}}
| pop35            = [[Koreans in Taiwan|5,132]]
| ref35            = <ref name="immigration">{{cite web|url=https://www.immigration.gov.tw/5385/7344/7350/%E5%A4%96%E5%83%91%E5%B1%85%E7%95%99/?alias=settledown|script-title=ko:재외동포 본문(지역별 상세)|publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade|date=15 July 2011|accessdate=25 February 2012|page=64|archive-date=8 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210908093850/https://www.immigration.gov.tw/5385/7344/7350/%E5%A4%96%E5%83%91%E5%B1%85%E7%95%99/?alias=settledown|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|access-date=12 April 2023|title=Wachtregister asiel 2012-2021|url=http://www.npdata.be/BuG/469-Migratieachtergrond/|website=npdata.be}}<!-- auto-translated by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>
| region36         = {{flagcountry|Guam}}
| pop36            = [[Koreans in Micronesia|5,016]]
| ref36            = <ref name="MOFA2013p133">{{harvnb|MOFA|2013|p=133}} (Chapter 3)</ref>
| region37         = {{flagcountry|Italy}}
| pop37            = 5,000
| ref37            = <ref name=MPI/>
| region38         = {{flagcountry|Belgium}}
| pop38            = 5,000
| ref38            = <ref name=MPI/>
| region39         = {{flagcountry|Spain}}
| pop39            = [[Koreans in Spain|4,080]]
| ref39            = <ref name="MOFAT2011" />{{rp|235}}
| region40         = {{flagcountry|Switzerland}}
| pop40            = 4,000
| ref40            = <ref name=MPI/>
| region41         = {{flag country|Brunei}}
| pop41            = [[Koreans in Brunei|3,771]]
| ref41            = <ref name="MOFA"/>
| region42         = {{flagcountry|South Africa}}
| pop42            = [[Koreans in South Africa|3,300]]
| ref42            = <ref name="통계청 자료(2014)">{{citation|url=http://www.index.go.kr/potal/main/EachDtlPageDetail.do?idx_cd=1682=0|language=ko-kr |script-title=ko:2014년 재외국민 통계청자료=|year=2014|access-date=2013-05-01}}</ref>
| region43         = {{flagcountry|Qatar}}
| pop43            = [[Koreans in the Arab world|3,000]]
| ref43            = <ref name="MOFAT2011"/>{{verify inline|date=April 2025|reason=Presumptive fix for undefined reference}}
| region44         = {{flagcountry|Austria}}
| pop44            = 3,000
| ref44            = <ref name=MPI/>
| region45         = {{flagcountry|Czechia}}
| pop45            = 3,000
| ref45            = <ref name=MPI>{{cite web|title=Immigrant and Emigrant Populations by Country of Origin and Destination|url=https://www.migrationpolicy.org/programs/data-hub/charts/immigrant-and-emigrant-populations-country-origin-and-destination|date=10 February 2014}}</ref>
| region46         = {{flagcountry|Chile}}
| pop46            = [[Koreans in Chile|2,510]]
| ref46            = <ref name="MOFAT2011" />{{rp|172}}
| region47         = {{flagcountry|Mongolia}}
| pop47            = [[Koreans in Mongolia|2,284]]
| ref47            = <ref name="MOFAT">{{citation |url=http://www.mofa.go.kr/webmodule/common/download.jsp?boardid=232&tablename=TYPE_DATABOARD&seqno=fcefeefd6f8e05d012031027&fileseq=00b03707a059027fc7069fbf |script-chapter=ko:남아시아태평양 |script-title=ko:재외동포현황 |trans-title=Overseas Koreans Status |publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade |date=2013-09-30 |page=103 |access-date=2015-04-30}}</ref>
| region48         = {{flagcountry|Northern Mariana Islands|name=Northern Marianas}}
| pop48            = [[Koreans in Micronesia|2,281]]
| ref48            = <ref name="MOFA2013p133"/>
| region49         = {{flagcountry|Hungary}}
| pop49            = 2,000
| ref49            = <ref name=MPI/>
| region50         = {{flagcountry|Peru}}
| pop50            = [[Koreans in Peru|1,305]]
| ref50            = <ref name="MOFAT2011" />{{rp|172}}
| langs            = [[Korean language|Korean]],<ref>{{Ethnologue17|kor}}</ref><br>[[Jeju language|Jeju]] and [[Korean Sign Language]] minorities
| rels             = Predominantly: [[Irreligion|Irreligious]]<br> 
Significant: [[Korean shamanism|Korean shamanic]], [[Christianity in Korea|Christian]], and [[Korean Buddhism|Buddhist]]
Minority: [[Islam in Korea|Islam]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=INSAMER |title=South Korean Muslims - İnsamer - İnsamer |url=https://en.insamer.com/south-korean-muslims_1042.html |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=INSAMER |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Park |first=Hyunseo |title=Food Globalization and Culture War: The Case of the Halal Food Complex in South Korea |date=August 2017 |access-date=2025-04-15 |type=Master's thesis |publisher=Michigan State University |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320871910 |doi=10.13140/RG.2.2.27796.81286 |doi-access=free |language=English |format=Pdf |page=38 }}</ref>
| related_groups   = [[Jeju people|Jejuans]]
}}

{{Korean people}}
{{Culture of Korea}}

'''Koreans'''{{efn|<small>[[South Korean standard language|South Korean]]:</small> {{lang|ko|한민족/한국인/한국사람, 韓民族/韓國人/韓國사람}}, {{transliteration|ko|Han minjok (Han ethnic group), Hanguk-in (persons of the Han country), Hanguksaram (Han country people)}}, <small>[[North Korean standard language|North Korean]]:</small> {{lang|ko|조선민족/조선인/조선사람, 朝鮮民族/朝鮮人/朝鮮사람}}, {{transliteration|ko|Joseon minjok (Korean ethnic group), Joseon-in (Joseon persons)/Joseonsaram (Joseon people)}}; see [[Names of Korea]]}} are an [[East Asian people|East Asian]] [[ethnicity|ethnic group]] native to the [[Korean Peninsula]].<ref name="Cell Press">{{Cite journal |last1= Horai |first1=Satoshi |last2=Murayama |first2=Kumiko |date=1996 |title=mtDNA Polymorphism in East Asian Populations, with Special Reference to the Peopling of Japan |journal=[[American Journal of Human Genetics]] |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |publisher=[[Cell Press]] |publication-date=1996  |volume=59   |issue=3 |pages=579–590 |pmid=8751859 |pmc=1914908}}</ref><ref name="John Wiley & Sons">{{Cite journal |last1= Yi |first1=SoJeong |last2=An |first2=Hyungmi| last3=Lee |first3=Howard | last4=Lee |first4=Sangin |date= 2014 |title=Ancestry informative SNP panels for discriminating the major East Asian populations: Han Chinese, Japanese and Korean |journal=[[Annals of Human Genetics]] |location=Cambridge |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |publication-date=2013  |volume=35 |issue=10 |pages=477–485 |doi=10.1097/FPC.0000000000000075 |pmid=25029633 |s2cid=43243512}}</ref><ref name="GW">{{cite journal |author1=Siska, Veronika|author2=Jones, Eppie Ruth |author3=Jeon, Sungwon |author4=Bhak, Youngjune |author5=Kim, Hak-Min |author6= Cho, Yun Sung|author7= Kim, Hyunho |author8= Lee, Kyusang|author9= Veselovskaya, Elizaveta |author10=Balueva, Tatiana |author11=Gallego-Llorente, Marcos|author12=Hofreiter, Michael |author13=Bradley, Daniel G.|author14= Eriksson, Anders |author15=Pinhasi, Ron |author16=Bhak, Jong |author17= Manica, Andrea |title=Genome-wide data from two early Neolithic East Asian individuals dating to 7700 years ago |journal=[[Science Advances]] |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=e1601877 |publication-date=1 February 2017 |doi=10.1126/sciadv.1601877 |pmid=28164156 |pmc=5287702|year=2017 |bibcode=2017SciA....3E1877S}}</ref><ref name="Wang Yuchen">{{Cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Yuchen |last2=Lu |first2=Dongsheng |last3=Chung |first3=Yeun-Jun |last4=Xu |first4=Shuhua |title=Genetic structure, divergence and admixture of Han Chinese, Japanese and Korean populations|journal=Hereditas|volume=155 |pages=19 |publication-date=6 April 2018 |doi=10.1186/s41065-018-0057-5 |pmid=29636655 |pmc=5889524 |year=2018 |doi-access=free}}</ref> The majority of Koreans live in the two Korean [[sovereign state]]s of North and South Korea, which are collectively referred to as Korea. As of 2021, an estimated 7.3 million ethnic [[Korean diaspora|Koreans resided outside of Korea]].<ref name="MOFA" /> Koreans are also an officially recognised ethnic minority in other several Continental and East Asian countries, including [[Koreans in China|China]], [[Koreans in Japan|Japan]], [[Koryo-saram|Kazakhstan]], [[Koryo-saram|Russia]], and [[Koryo-saram|Uzbekistan]]. Outside of Continental and East Asia, sizeable Korean communities have formed in [[Koreans in Germany|Germany]], the [[British Koreans|United Kingdom]], [[Koreans in France|France]], the [[Korean Americans|United States]], [[Korean Canadians|Canada]], [[Korean Australians|Australia]], and [[Korean New Zealanders|New Zealand]].

==Etymology==
{{See also|Names of Korea}}

South Koreans refer to themselves as ''Hanguk-in''{{efn|{{Korean|hangul=한국인|hanja=韓國人|labels=no}}}} or ''Hanguk-saram'',{{efn|{{Korean|hangul=한국 사람|labels=no}}}} both of which mean "people of the Han". The "Han" in the names of the Korean Empire, Daehan Jeguk, and the Republic of Korea (South Korea), Daehan Minguk or Hanguk, are named in reference to the Three Kingdoms of Korea, not the ancient confederacies in the southern Korean Peninsula.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-08-30 |script-title=ko:[이기환의 흔적의 역사] 국호논쟁의 전말…대한민국이냐 고려공화국이냐 |url=https://www.khan.co.kr/culture/culture-general/article/201708300913001 |access-date=2024-09-17 |website=[[Kyunghyang Shinmun]] |language=ko}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web  |date=2020-08-04 |script-title=ko:[이덕일 사랑] 대~한민국 |url=https://www.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2008/08/14/2008081401512.html |access-date=2024-09-17 |website=[[The Chosun Ilbo]] |language=ko}}</ref> Members of the Korean diaspora often use the term ''Han-in''.{{efn|{{Korean|hangul=한인|hanja=韓人|lit=people of Han|labels=no}}}}

North Koreans refer to themselves as ''Joseon-in''{{efn|{{Korean|hangul=조선인|hanja=朝鮮人|labels=no}}}} or ''Joseon-saram'',{{efn|{{Korean|hangul=조선 사람|labels=no}}}} both of which literally mean "people of Joseon". The term is derived from [[Joseon]], the last dynastic kingdom of Korea. Similarly, [[Koreans in China]] refer to themselves as ''Chaoxianzu''{{efn|{{zh|c=朝鲜族}}}} in Chinese or ''Joseonjok'', ''Joseonsaram''{{efn|{{langx|ko|조선족, 조선사람}}}} in Korean, which are [[cognate]]s that literally mean "Joseon [[Ethnicity|ethnic group]]".<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Making of International Law in Korea: From Colony to Asian Power |last=Lee |first=Seokwoo |year=2016 |isbn=978-9004315785 |page=321|publisher=Brill Nijhoff }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Ethnicity and Foreigners in Ancient Greece and China |last=Kim |first=Hyunjin  |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |date=21 May 2009 |page=140}}</ref> [[Koreans in Japan]] refer to themselves as {{nihongo foot|Zainichi Chousenjin, Chousenjin|在日朝鮮人, 朝鮮人|Zainichi Chousenjin, Chousenjin|group=lower-alpha}} in Japanese or ''Jaeil Joseonin'', ''Joseonsaram'', ''Joseonin''{{efn|{{Korean|hangul=재일조선인, 조선사람, 조선인}}}} in Korean. Ethnic Koreans living in Russia and Central Asia refer to themselves as [[Koryo-saram]],{{efn|{{langx|ko|고려 사람}}; [[Cyrillic script|Cyrillic]]: Корё сарам}} alluding to [[Goryeo]], a Korean dynasty spanning from 918 to 1392, which also spawned the word 'Korea'.

In the chorus of the [[Aegukga|South Korean national anthem]], Koreans are referred to as ''Daehan-saram'' ("people of the great han").{{efn|{{langx|ko|대한사람}}, {{Literal translation|People of Great Han}}}}

In an inter-Korean context, such as when dealing with the [[Koreanic languages]] or the Korean ethnicity as a whole, South Koreans use the term {{gloss|Hangyeore}}.{{efn|{{Korean|hangul=한겨레|rr=Hangyeore|mr=Han'gyŏre}}, {{Literal translation|nations/people of Han}}}}

==Origins==
The origin of Koreans has not been well clarified yet. Based on linguistic, archaeologic and genetic evidence, their place of origin is located somewhere in [[Northeast Asia]], but its exact pattern of expansion and arrival into the Korean peninsula remain unclear.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kim |first1=Jangsuk |last2=Park |first2=Jinho |date=2020-05-05 |title=Millet vs rice: an evaluation of the farming/language dispersal hypothesis in the Korean context |journal=Evolutionary Human Sciences |volume=2 |pages=e12 |doi=10.1017/ehs.2020.13 |issn=2513-843X |pmid=37588344|pmc=10427441 }}</ref>

Koreans were suggested to have originated from a similar source as Central Asian Mongolians from a genetic perspective.<ref name="pubmed1510113">Kim, W., Saitou, N., & Jin, L. (1992). [Phylogenetic relationships of East Asian populations, inferred from restriction patterns of mitochondrial DNA](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1510113/). *Molecular Biology and Evolution, 9*(5), 547-553. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a040753</ref>Archaeological evidence suggests that Proto-Koreans were migrants from [[Manchuria]] during the [[Liaoning bronze dagger culture|Bronze Age]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ahn|first=Sung-Mo|title=The emergence of rice agriculture in Korea: archaeobotanical perspectives|journal=Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences|volume=2|issue=2|date=June 2010|pages=89–98 |doi=10.1007/s12520-010-0029-9|bibcode=2010ArAnS...2...89A |s2cid=129727300}}</ref> The origins of the [[Korean language]] and people are subjects of ongoing debate. Some theories suggest connections to the Altaic region, proposing links with languages and populations in Northern Asia, including Mongolic, Turkic, and Tungusic groups. However, these claims remain inconclusive, and many scholars argue that Korean belongs to its own distinct Koreanic family, with unique linguistic and cultural origins.<ref name="researchgateAltaic">Kim, J. (2021). [Relationship between the Altaic Languages and the Korean Language](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/348061296_Relationship_between_the_Altaic_Languages_and_the_Korean_Language). *ResearchGate.*</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Cho |first1=Sungdai |last2=Lee |first2=Hyo Sang |title=Korean: A Linguistic Introduction |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2022 |isbn=978-0521514859}}</ref>

Scholars suggest that Koreanic speakers came from Northeast Asia and migrated southwards to the [[Korean Peninsula]], where they replaced or assimilated the local Japonic speakers.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Janhunen|first=Juha|date=2010|title=RReconstructing the Language Map of Prehistorical Northeast Asia|journal=Studia Orientalia|quote=... there are strong indications that the neighbouring Baekje state (in the southwest) was predominantly Japonic-speaking until it was linguistically Koreanized.|number=108}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Vovin |first1=Alexander |title=From Koguryŏ to T'amna: Slowly riding to the South with speakers of Proto-Korean |journal=Korean Linguistics |date=31 December 2013 |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=217–235 |doi=10.1075/kl.15.2.03vov}}</ref> Whitman (2011) suggests that the [[Proto-Korean]]s arrived in the southern part of the Korean Peninsula at around 300 BCE and coexisted with the descendants of the Japonic Mumun cultivators (or assimilated them).<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Whitman|first=John|date=1 December 2011|title=Northeast Asian Linguistic Ecology and the Advent of Rice Agriculture in Korea and Japan|journal=Rice|volume=4|issue=3|pages=149–158|doi=10.1007/s12284-011-9080-0 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2011Rice....4..149W }}</ref> Vovin suggests Proto-Korean is equivalent to the variant of Koreanic languages spoken in southern Manchuria and northern Korean Peninsula by the time of the [[Three Kingdoms of Korea]] period and spread to southern Korea through influence from [[Goguryeo|Goguryeo migrants]].<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Vovin, Alexander (2008). From Koguryo to Tamna: Slowly Riding to the South with Speakers of Proto-Korean|journal=Korean Linguistics|volume=15}} Linguistic evidence indicates speakers of</ref> The arrival of early Koreans can be associated with the Bronze Age dagger culture, which expanded from the West Liao River region.<ref name=KimPark>{{Cite journal|last1=Kim|first1=Jangsuk|last2=Park|first2=Jinho|date=2020|title=Millet vs rice: an evaluation of the farming/language dispersal hypothesis in the Korean context|journal=Evolutionary Human Sciences|publisher=Cambridge University Press|language=en|volume=2|pages=e12 |doi=10.1017/ehs.2020.13|pmid=37588344 |pmc=10427441 |issn=2513-843X|doi-access=free|quote=He also suggests that the arrival of Koreanic in Korea was associated with the spread of the Korean-style bronze dagger culture from present-day northeast China to Korea around 300 BCE. ... <br><br> While pottery styles clearly differ between northeast China and the Korean Peninsula, an influx of northeast Chinese pottery styles into Korea has not been detected, and the styles of the two areas remain distinct long after the appearance of millet with little change in Chulmun pottery styles over time. ... <br><br>  However, as outlined above, because the Korean Peninsula was already occupied by Chulmun hunter–fisher–gatherers since at least 6000 BCE, a key to evaluating the millet hypothesis is determining whether millet was adopted by the Chulmun foragers (diffusion) or whether it was brought along as a part of a large-scale migration of farmers from Liaoning. If millet was introduced as a result of a large-scale migration of farmers from Liaoning, an archaeologically detectable influx of Liaoning culture and changes in material culture after the introduction of millet should be expected, because vessel shape, manufacturing technology and the design layout and motifs of Korean Chulmun pottery markedly differ from those of Liaoning pottery. However, there is no detectable appearance of elements of Liaoning material culture that accompanies the arrival of millets. ... <br><br> Even if millet was brought by some migrants from northeast China to Korea, archaeological evidence demonstrates that the scale of migration was probably not large enough to lead to a fundamental linguistic change or the dispersal of a linguistic family.}}</ref> Archaeologic evidence points to a connection between the pottery-making style of the Late Neolithic to Bronze Age cultures in the West Liao River basin and the Korean Peninsula.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Osada |first1=Naoki |last2=Kawai |first2=Yosuke |date=2021 |title=Exploring models of human migration to the Japanese archipelago using genome-wide genetic data |url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/ase/129/1/129_201215/_html/-char/ja |journal=Anthropological Science |volume=129 |issue=1 |pages=45–58 |doi=10.1537/ase.201215|doi-access=free }}</ref> Miyamoto 2021 similarly argues that Proto-Koreanic arrived with the "rolled rim vessel culture" (Jeomtodae culture) from the [[Liaodong Peninsula]], gradually replacing the Japonic speakers of the [[Mumun pottery period|Mumun]]-[[Yayoi period|Yayoi culture]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Miyamoto |first=Kazuo |date=January 2022 |title=The emergence of 'Transeurasian' language families in Northeast Asia as viewed from archaeological evidence |journal=Evolutionary Human Sciences |language=en |volume=4 |pages=e3 |doi=10.1017/ehs.2021.49 |pmid=37588923 |pmc=10426040 |issn=2513-843X |quote=Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that the people of the Jeomtodae pottery culture, the direct ancestors of Three kingdom states, spoke Proto-Koreanic.|hdl=2324/4796095 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

However, some scholars{{Who|date=January 2024}} reject the notion that the Korean speakers were not native to the Korean Peninsula, and argue that no solid evidence of such linguistic migration/shift as well as population and material change in the peninsular region has ever been found to support later migrations.<ref name=KimPark/> 

The largest concentration of [[dolmen]]s in the world is found on the [[Korean Peninsula]]. In fact, with an estimated 35,000-100,000 dolmens,{{sfn|Nelson|1993|p=147}} Korea accounts for nearly 40% of the world's total. Similar dolmens can be found in Northeast China, the [[Shandong Peninsula]] and the island of [[Kyushu]], yet it is unclear why this culture only flourished so extensively on the Korean Peninsula and its surroundings compared to the bigger remainder of Northeast Asia.

===Genetics{{anchor|Genetic studies}}===
{{Main|Genetic history of East Asians#Koreans}}
{{multiple image
| align             = right
| direction         = vertical
| width             = 231
| image1            = Geographic location and dates of ancient individuals in Northern East Asia.png
| caption1          = Geographic location and dates of ancient individuals in Northeast Asia. The Bronze Age West Liao River farmers (WLR_BA) display long-term genetic continuity with modern Koreans.
| image2            = Proto-Koreanic expansion (Whiteman 2011).png
| caption2          = Proto-Macro-Koreanic arrived after Proto-Japonic from Liaodong and the Changbaishan region with the introduction of bronze daggers around 300 BC.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Whitman |first=John |date=December 2011 |title=Northeast Asian Linguistic Ecology and the Advent of Rice Agriculture in Korea and Japan |journal=Rice |language=en |volume=4 |issue=3 |pages=149–158 |doi=10.1007/s12284-011-9080-0 |bibcode=2011Rice....4..149W |issn=1939-8433|doi-access=free }}</ref>
}}

A population genetic study examined the origins of Koreans using 13 polymorphic and 7 monomorphic blood genetic markers (serum proteins and red cell enzymes) from 437 Koreans. Genetic distance analyses, performed through cluster and principal components models, compared Koreans with eight populations: [[Korean Chinese]], [[Japanese people|Japanese]], [[Han Chinese]], [[Mongols]], [[Zhuang people|Zhuangs]], [[Malays (ethnic group)|Malays]], [[Javanese people|Javanese]], and [[Central Asians|Soviet Asians]]. This analysis, based on 47 alleles across 15 polymorphic loci, demonstrated that Koreans genetically share similarities with Central Asian Mongolian groups. A more detailed analysis using 65 alleles across 19 polymorphic loci reinforced these findings, and also revealed a closer genetic relationship between Koreans and Japanese and a more distant relationship with Han Chinese. The results align with ethnohistoric accounts of the origin of Koreans and their language. Additionally, the [[Koreans in China|Korean minority in China]] were shown to have maintained their distinct genetic identity.<ref>Kim W, Han BG, Shin DJ, et al. Origin of Koreans: A population genetic study. *PubMed*. 1992. [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1510113/](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1510113/)</ref> 

Modern Koreans primarily descend from Bronze Age farmers from the West [[Liao River]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sun |first1=Na |last2=Tao |first2=Le |last3=Wang |first3=Rui |last4=Zhu |first4=Kongyang |last5=Hai |first5=Xiangjun |last6=Wang |first6=Chuan-Chao |date=2 January 2023 |title=The genetic structure and admixture of Manchus and Koreans in northeast China |journal=Annals of Human Biology |language=en |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=161–171 |doi=10.1080/03014460.2023.2182912 |issn=0301-4460 |pmid=36809229 |quote=Koreans can also be modelled as deriving ancestry from a single source related to WLR_BA, consisting of the transmission route of farming from the northeast to the Korean Peninsula and even the Japanese islands (Kwak et al. 2017; Kim and Park 2020). |doi-access=free}}</ref> These farmers can be modeled as having [[Ancient Northern East Asian]] ancestry, related to Neolithic Yellow River farmers, and [[Ancient Northeast Asian]] ancestry, related to Amur hunter-gatherers.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Rui |last2=Wang |first2=Chuan-Chao |date=8 August 2022 |title=Human genetics: The dual origin of Three Kingdoms period Koreans |journal=Current Biology |volume=32 |issue=15 |pages=R844–R847 |bibcode=2022CBio...32.R844W |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2022.06.044 |issn=0960-9822 |pmid=35944486 |quote=The northern East Asian ancestry was suggested to be related to the Neolithic West Liao River farmers in northeast China, who were an admixture of ANA and NYR ancestry3. The finding indicated that West Liao River-related farmers might have spread the proto-Korean language as their ancestry was found to be predominant in extant Koreans. Proto-Korean groups, in turn, introduced West Liao River-like ancestry into the gene pool of present-day Japan5. |doi-access=free}}</ref> Bronze Age West Liao River ancestry is also associated with the [[Upper Xiajiadian culture]], which in turn can be used as source proxy for Bronze Age and modern Koreans.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ning |first1=Chao |last2=Li |first2=Tianjiao |last3=Wang |first3=Ke |last4=Zhang |first4=Fan |last5=Li |first5=Tao |last6=Wu |first6=Xiyan |last7=Gao |first7=Shizhu |last8=Zhang |first8=Quanchao |last9=Zhang |first9=Hai |last10=Hudson |first10=Mark J. |last11=Dong |first11=Guanghui |last12=Wu |first12=Sihao |last13=Fang |first13=Yanming |last14=Liu |first14=Chen |last15=Feng |first15=Chunyan |date=1 June 2020 |title=Ancient genomes from northern China suggest links between subsistence changes and human migration |journal=Nature Communications |language=en |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=2700 |bibcode=2020NatCo..11.2700N |doi=10.1038/s41467-020-16557-2 |issn=2041-1723 |pmc=7264253 |pmid=32483115 |hdl-access=free |hdl=21.11116/0000-0007-30F2-1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Robbeets |first1=Martine |last2=Bouckaert |first2=Remco |last3=Conte |first3=Matthew |last4=Savelyev |first4=Alexander |last5=Li |first5=Tao |last6=An |first6=Deog-Im |last7=Shinoda |first7=Ken-ichi |last8=Cui |first8=Yinqiu |last9=Kawashima |first9=Takamune |last10=Kim |first10=Geonyoung |last11=Uchiyama |first11=Junzo |last12=Dolińska |first12=Joanna |last13=Oskolskaya |first13=Sofia |last14=Yamano |first14=Ken-Yōjiro |last15=Seguchi |first15=Noriko |date=November 2021 |title=Triangulation supports agricultural spread of the Transeurasian languages |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=599 |issue=7886 |pages=616–621 |bibcode=2021Natur.599..616R |doi=10.1038/s41586-021-04108-8 |issn=1476-4687 |pmc=8612925 |pmid=34759322 |quote=...Bronze Age Taejungni, given the Bronze Age date it can be best modelled as Upper Xiajiadian}}</ref> Affinities with populations from the [[Neolithic]] [[Chertovy Vorota Cave|Devil's Gate]] at the Amur region exist too, clustering with present Koreans and Japanese along with certain Tungusic groups, such as [[Ulch people|Ulchis]], [[Nanai people|Nanais]], and [[Oroqens]]. These populations were an admixture of Northeast Asian and Southeast Asian sources although the study's authors acknowledge that the sample size is too small to make this conclusion. <ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Siska |first1=Veronika |last2=Jones |first2=Eppie Ruth |last3=Jeon |first3=Sungwon |last4=Bhak |first4=Youngjune |last5=Kim |first5=Hak-Min |last6=Cho |first6=Yun Sung |last7=Kim |first7=Hyunho |last8=Lee |first8=Kyusang |last9=Veselovskaya |first9=Elizaveta |last10=Balueva |first10=Tatiana |last11=Gallego-Llorente |first11=Marcos |date=3 February 2017 |title=Genome-wide data from two early Neolithic East Asian individuals dating to 7700 years ago |journal=Science Advances |language=en |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=e1601877 |bibcode=2017SciA....3E1877S |doi=10.1126/sciadv.1601877 |pmc=5287702 |pmid=28164156}}</ref> Wang and Wang (2022) stated that Koreans from the [[Three Kingdoms period of Korea|Three Kingdoms Period]] also have [[Jōmon people|Jōmon]] ancestry, which ranged from 10% to 95%,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Journal |first=The Asia Pacific |date=August 2022 |title=Re-thinking Jōmon and Ainu in Japanese History |url=https://apjjf.org/2022/15/Hudson.html |access-date=2023-02-23 |website=The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus}}</ref> and significantly contributed to the genetic makeup of modern Koreans. But subsequent arrivals of newcomers from [[Manchuria]] 'diluted' this Jōmon ancestry and made the Koreans genetically homogenous.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Rui |last2=Wang |first2=Chuan-Chao |date=2022-08-08 |title=Human genetics: The dual origin of Three Kingdoms period Koreans |journal=[[Current Biology]] |language=en |volume=32 |issue=15 |pages=R844–R847 |bibcode=2022CBio...32.R844W |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2022.06.044 |issn=0960-9822 |pmid=35944486 |s2cid=251410856 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Overall, present Koreans can be modeled as having 85% Bronze Age West Liao River-related ancestry and 15% [[Taiwanese indigenous peoples#Genetics|Taiwanese Hanben culture]]-related ancestry. Other studies show evidence of post-Bronze Age population admixture with southern Chinese settlers, associated with Iron Age Cambodians, contributing to significant genetic variation in Koreans.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kim |first1=Jungeun |last2=Jeon |first2=Sungwon |last3=Choi |first3=Jae-Pil |last4=Blazyte |first4=Asta |display-authors=3 |date=2020 |title=The Origin and Composition of Korean Ethnicity Analyzed by Ancient and Present-Day Genome Sequences |journal=Genome Biology and Evolution |volume=12 |issue=5 |pages=553–565 |doi=10.1093/gbe/evaa062 |pmc=7250502 |pmid=32219389 |quote=[...] the current genetic foundation of Koreans may have been established through a rapid admixture with ancient Southern Chinese populations associated with Iron Age Cambodians. We speculate that this admixing trend initially occurred mostly outside the Korean peninsula followed by continuous spread and localization in Korea, corresponding to the general admixture trend of East Asia. Over 70% of extant Korean genetic diversity is explained to be derived from such a recent population expansion and admixture from the South.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sun |first1=Na |last2=Tao |first2=Le |last3=Wang |first3=Rui |last4=Zhu |first4=Kongyan |last5=Hai |first5=Xiangjun |last6=Wang |first6=Chuan-Chao |date=2023 |title=The genetic structure and admixture of Manchus and Koreans in northeast China |journal=Annals of Human Biology |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=161–171 |doi=10.1080/03014460.2023.2182912 |doi-access=free|pmid=36809229 }}</ref> Jōmon ancestry in modern Koreans is also estimated to be about 5%.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last1=Bennett |first1=E. Andrew |last2=Liu |first2=Yichen |last3=Fu |first3=Qiaomei |date=3 December 2024 |title=Reconstructing the Human Population History of East Asia through Ancient Genomics |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/elements/reconstructing-the-human-population-history-of-east-asia-through-ancient-genomics/0524D629660B5E43FC7094C043D54C6A |journal=Elements in Ancient East Asia |language=en |doi=10.1017/9781009246675 |isbn=978-1-009-24667-5 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Koreans display high frequencies of the Y-DNA haplogroups [[Haplogroup O-M122|O2-M122]] (approximately 40% of all present-day Korean males), O1b2-M176 (approximately 30%), and [[Haplogroup C-M217|C2-M217]] (approximately 15%).<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Kim|first1=Soon-Hee|last2=Kim|first2=Ki-Cheol|last3=Shin|first3=Dong-Jik|last4=Jin|first4=Han-Jun|last5=Kwak|first5=Kyoung-Don|last6=Han|first6=Myun-Soo|last7=Song|first7=Joon-Myong|last8=Kim|first8=Won|last9=Kim|first9=Wook|date=4 April 2011|title=High frequencies of Y-chromosome haplogroup O2b-SRY465 lineages in Korea: a genetic perspective on the peopling of Korea|journal=Investigative Genetics|volume=2|issue=1|pages=10|doi=10.1186/2041-2223-2-10 |pmc=3087676|pmid=21463511 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Some regional variance may exist; in a study of South Korean Y-DNA published in 2011, the ratio of O2-M122 to O1b2-M176 is greatest in Seoul-Gyeonggi (1.8065), with the ratio declining in a counterclockwise direction around South Korea (Chungcheong 1.6364, Jeolla 1.3929, Jeju 1.3571, Gyeongsang 1.2400, Gangwon 0.9600).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kim |first=Wook |date=April 2011 |title=High frequencies of Y-chromosome haplogroup O2b-SRY465 lineages in Korea: a genetic perspective on the peopling of Korea |journal=  Investigative Genetics|volume=2 |issue=10 |page=10 |doi=10.1186/2041-2223-2-10 |pmid=21463511 |pmc=3087676 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hong |first=Shi |date=14 July 2005 |title=Y-Chromosome Evidence of Southern Origin of the East Asian–Specific Haplogroup O3-M122 |journal= The American Journal of Human Genetics|volume=77 |issue=3 |pages=408–419 |doi=10.1086/444436 |pmid=16080116 |pmc=1226206 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hwang |first=Jung-Hee |date=20 June 2008 |title=A MELAS syndrome family harboring two mutations in mitochondrial genome |journal=Experimental & Molecular Medicine |volume=40 |issue=3 |pages=354–360 |doi=10.3858/emm.2008.40.3.354 |pmid=18587274 |pmc=2679288 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jeong |first1=Choongwon |last2=Wang |first2=Ke |last3=Wilkin |first3=Shevan |last4=Taylor |first4=William Timothy Treal |last5=Miller |first5=Bryan K. |last6=Bemmann |first6=Jan H. |last7=Stahl |first7=Raphaela |last8=Chiovelli |first8=Chelsea |last9=Knolle |first9=Florian |last10=Ulziibayar |first10=Sodnom |last11=Khatanbaatar |first11=Dorjpurev |last12=Erdenebaatar |first12=Diimaajav |last13=Erdenebat |first13=Ulambayar |last14=Ochir |first14=Ayudai |last15=Ankhsanaa |first15=Ganbold |last16=Vanchigdash |first16=Chuluunkhuu |last17=Ochir |first17=Battuga |last18=Munkhbayar |first18=Chuluunbat |last19=Tumen |first19=Dashzeveg |last20=Kovalev |first20=Alexey |last21=Kradin |first21=Nikolay |last22=Bazarov |first22=Bilikto A. |last23=Miyagashev |first23=Denis A. |last24=Konovalov |first24=Prokopiy B. |last25=Zhambaltarova |first25=Elena |last26=Miller |first26=Alicia Ventresca |last27=Haak |first27=Wolfgang |last28=Schiffels |first28=Stephan |last29=Krause |first29=Johannes |last30=Boivin |first30=Nicole |last31=Erdene |first31=Myagmar |last32=Hendy |first32=Jessica |last33=Warinner |first33=Christina |title=A Dynamic 6,000-Year Genetic History of Eurasia's Eastern Steppe |journal=Cell |date=November 2020 |volume=183 |issue=4 |pages=890–904.e29 |doi=10.1016/j.cell.2020.10.015 |pmid=33157037 |pmc=7664836 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Guo |first1=Fei |last2=Song |first2=Liqu |last3=Zhang |first3=Longnian |title=Population genetics for 17 Y-STR loci in Korean ethnic minority from Liaoning Province, Northeast China |journal=Forensic Science International: Genetics |date=May 2016 |volume=22 |pages=e9–e11 |doi=10.1016/j.fsigen.2016.01.007 |pmid=26818791 }}</ref> [[Haplogroup C-M217|Haplogroup C2-M217]] tends to be found in about 13% of males from most regions of South Korea, but it is somewhat more common (about 17%) among males from the [[Gyeongsang Province|Gyeongsang]] region in the southeast of the peninsula and somewhat less common (about 7%) among males from [[Jeju Province|Jeju]], located off the southwest coast of the peninsula.<ref name="Kim2011">{{cite journal | last1 = Kim | first1 = Soon-Hee | last2 = Kim | first2 = Ki-Cheol | last3 = Shin | first3 = Dong-Jik | display-authors = etal | year = 2011| title = High frequencies of Y-chromosome haplogroup O2b-SRY465 lineages in Korea: a genetic perspective on the peopling of Korea | journal = Investigative Genetics | volume = 2011 | issue = 2| page = 10 | doi = 10.1186/2041-2223-2-10 | pmid = 21463511 | pmc = 3087676 | s2cid = 206977488 | doi-access = free }}</ref> Haplogroup C2-M217 has been found in a greater proportion (about 26%) of a small sample (''n''=19) of males from North Korea.<ref name="Zhong2010">Hua Zhong, Hong Shi, Xue-Bin Qi, Chun-Jie Xiao, Li Jin, Runlin Z Ma, and Bing Su, "Global distribution of Y-chromosome haplogroup C reveals the prehistoric migration routes of African exodus and early settlement in East Asia." ''Journal of Human Genetics'' (2010) 55, 428–435.  doi:10.1038/jhg.2010.40</ref><ref name="Zhong2011">Hua Zhong, Hong Shi, Xue-Bin Qi, Zi-Yuan Duan, Ping-Ping Tan, Li Jin, Bing Su, and Runlin Z. Ma (2011), "Extended Y Chromosome Investigation Suggests Postglacial Migrations of Modern Humans into East Asia via the Northern Route." ''Mol. Biol. Evol.'' 28(1):717–727. doi:10.1093/molbev/msq247</ref> However, haplogroups are not a reliable indicator of an individual's overall ancestry; Koreans are more similar to one another in regard to their autosomes than they are similar to members of other ethnic groups. Studies of [[Human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup|polymorphisms in the human Y-chromosome]] have so far produced evidence to suggest that the Korean people have a long history as a distinct, mostly [[Endogamy|endogamous]] ethnic group, with successive prehistoric waves of people moving to the peninsula and two major Y-chromosome haplogroups.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hee Kim |first1=Soon |year=2010 |title=Y chromosome homogeneity in the Korean population |journal=International Journal of Legal Medicine |volume=124 |issue=6 |pages=653–657 |doi=10.1007/s00414-010-0501-1 |pmid=20714743 |s2cid=27125545}}</ref>
The mitochondrial DNA markers ([[Mitochondrial DNA|mtDNA haplogroups]] and HVR-I sequences) of Korean populations showed close relationships with Manchurians, Japanese, Mongolians and Northern Chinese but not with Southeast Asians. Y-chromosomal distances showed a close relationship to most East Asian population groups, including Southeast Asian ones.<ref name="Jin">{{Cite journal|last1=Jin|first1=Han-Jun|last2=Tyler-Smith|first2=Chris|last3=Kim|first3=Wook|date=16 January 2009|title=The Peopling of Korea Revealed by Analyses of Mitochondrial DNA and Y-Chromosomal Markers|journal=PLOS ONE|volume=4|issue=1|pages=e4210|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0004210 |pmc=2615218|pmid=19148289|bibcode=2009PLoSO...4.4210J|doi-access=free}}</ref> 

Koreans share a close genetic relationship with Yamato Japanese and Manchu populations, as well as other Tungusic-speaking groups, reflecting shared ancestry and historical interactions. Additionally, they exhibit genetic affinity with Northern Han Chinese populations, though to a lesser degree compared to Manchu and Japanese populations. These relationships are supported by genome-wide analyses highlighting the complex genetic structure of East Asian populations.<ref name="Cell Press" /><ref name="John Wiley & Sons" /><ref name="Wang Yuchen" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1= Kim |first1=Young Jin |last2=Jin |first2=Han Jun |date= 2013 |title = Dissecting the genetic structure of Korean population using genome-wide SNP arrays |journal=Genes Genom |location=Cambridge |publisher= The Genetics Society of Korea |publication-date=2014 |volume=24 |issue=3 |page=360 |doi=10.1007/s13258-013-0082-8 |s2cid=256065429}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1= Pan |first1=Ziqing |last2=Xu |first2=Shuhua |date=2019 |title=Population genomics of East Asian ethnic groups |journal=[[Hereditas]] |location=Berlin |publisher=[[BioMed Central]] |publication-date=2020 |volume=157 |issue=49 |page=5 |doi=10.1186/s41065-020-00162-w |pmid=33292737 |pmc=7724877 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="GW" /> The study "Genomic insights into the formation of human populations in East Asia" states that Koreans are genetically closest to Yamato Japanese based on FST genetic distance measurements. The research highlights the complex genetic structure of East Asian populations, shaped by historical migrations and admixture events.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Chuan-Chao |last2=Yeh |first2=Hui-Yuan |last3=Popov |first3=Alexander |date=2021 |title=Population genomics of East Asian ethnic groups |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |location=Berlin |publisher=[[Nature Portfolio]] |publication-date=2021 |volume=7850 |issue=591 |pages=413–419 |doi=10.1038/s41586-021-03336-2 |pmc=7993749 |pmid=33618348 |doi-access=free}}</ref> The reference population for Koreans used in [[Genographic Project#Geno 2.0 Next Generation|Geno 2.0 Next Generation]] is 94% Eastern Asia and 5% Southeast Asia & Oceania.<ref>[[Genographic Project#Geno 2.0 Next Generation|Reference Populations - Geno 2.0 Next Generation]] . (2017). [[Genographic Project|The Genographic Project]]. Retrieved 15 May 2017, from [https://genographic.nationalgeographic.com/reference-populations-next-gen/ link.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170207031612/https://genographic.nationalgeographic.com/reference-populations-next-gen// |date=7 February 2017}}</ref>

===Genealogy===
[[Korea Foundation]] Associate Professor of History, Eugene Y. Park said that many Koreans seem to have a [[Genealogy|genealogical]] memory blackout before the twentieth century.<ref name="ProfessorEugenePark">Eugene Y. Park. (n.d.). [[University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences|Penn Arts & Sciences]] East Asian Languages and Civilizations. Retrieved 24 January 2018, from [https://www.sas.upenn.edu/ealc/people/eugene-y-park link.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171111194602/https://www.sas.upenn.edu/ealc/people/eugene-y-park |date=11 November 2017 }}</ref><!--This first citation is to cite Eugene Y. Park's credential as "Korea Foundation Associate Professor of History".--><!--The context of Park's statements indicate that the, "memory blackout, before the twentieth century" which Park talked about, refers to a genealogical memory blackout.--><ref>Eugene Y. Park, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akiv2ji6EiY&t=7m6s from the 7:06 mark of the YouTube video to the 7:38 mark of the YouTube video] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200905151326/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akiv2ji6EiY&t=7m6s |date=5 September 2020 }}, said, "''Secondly, on the one hand, so many Koreans seem to talk, to be able to tell, one, something about his or her [[Kim (Korean surname)#Gyeongju|Gyeongju Kim]] ancestors, of a [[Silla]] kingdom two-thousand years ago. And yet, such a person is unlikely to be able to tell you something about his or her great-great-grandparents, what they were doing hundred years ago, what their occupations were, where they were living, where their family graves are. In other words, a memory blackout, before the twentieth century.''"</ref> According to him the vast majority of Koreans do not know their actual genealogical history.<!--The context of Park's statements indicate that when Park said, "the vast majority of Koreans have lost memory of their actual history," Park was referring to having lost memory of their actual genealogical history.--> Through "inventing tradition" in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, families devised a kind of master narrative story that purports to explain a surname-ancestral seat combination's history to the extent where it is next to impossible to look beyond these master narrative stories.<ref>Eugene Y. Park, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akiv2ji6EiY&t=16m54s from the 16:54 mark of the YouTube video to the 18:54 mark of the YouTube video] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200705053044/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akiv2ji6EiY&t=16m54s |date=5 July 2020 }}, said, "''So, from this point on, then, I would like to survey, how the Koreans descended. Koreans, depending on their ancestors' status category, have dealt with genealogy and ancestry consciousness, in the last, differently, in the last two centuries. And, of course, most Koreans are not descendants of aristocrats, but, the, but what happened in the last hundred fifty, hundred to hundred fifty years, is that those Koreans, the vast majority of Koreans have lost memory of their actual history, in the sense where now, any outside observer who might ask a Korean person about ancestry, would be left with the impression that every Korean is now of aristocratic descent. So let me begin with the aristocracy. In the early modern era, the kind of a master narrative, stories that purport to explain a particular surname-ancestral seat combination's history, crystallize, they became set in stone, through inventing tradition. In the seventeenth and eighteenth century, many, all families devise such a stories, to the extent where, now today in Korea, anybody who is interested in tracing his or her ancestry, has to deal with such master narratives, but at the same time it is next to impossible to look beyond master narratives. In other words, in Korea, today, there's little sense of doing the kind of doing the genealogical research that you and I would do in the United States, by looking at [[United States Census|Census]] documents, and other types of documentation, that have been passed down through generations, or, have been maintained by the government.''"</ref> He gave an example of what "inventing tradition" was like from his own family's genealogy where a document from 1873 recorded three children in a particular family and a later 1920 document recorded an extra son in that same family.<ref>Eugene Y. Park, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akiv2ji6EiY&t=28m32s from the 28:32 mark of the YouTube video to the 29:21 mark of the YouTube video] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200905151321/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akiv2ji6EiY&t=28m32s |date=5 September 2020 }}, said, "''This is an example. Here we see records that gives us a better sense of what inventing tradition was like. Here, a page from an eighteen seventy-three Miryang Pak family genealogy. Here's a man, indicated inside the circle named, Ju ''([[wikt:冑#Korean|冑]])''. He had three sons: Eun-gyeong, Hyeon-gyeong, Won-gyeong ''([[wikt:子#Korean|子]] [[wikt:恩#Korean|恩]] [[wikt:慶#Korean|慶]], [[wikt:子#Korean|子]] [[wikt:賢#Korean|賢]] [[wikt:慶#Korean|慶]], [[wikt:子#Korean|子]] [[wikt:元#Korean|元]] [[wikt:慶#Korean|慶]])''. But the edition that was published a bit later in the nineteen twenty, so we see the same man, Ju, and, under him, we see sons: Eun-gyeong, Hyeon-gyeong, Won-gyeong and, the extra, the fourth son, out of nowhere, Tōkhwa ''([[wikt:子#Korean|子]] [[wikt:徳#Korean|徳]] [[wikt:華#Korean|華]])''. Actually, this is my family. So, this was commonly done in the modern era, the children, son out of nowhere or claims that we were left out centuries ago, and please include us.''"</ref> Park said that these master narratives connect the same surname and ancestral seat to a single, common ancestor. This trend became universal in the nineteenth century, but genealogies which were published in the seventeenth century actually admit that they did not know how the different lines of the same surname or ancestral seat are related at all.<ref>Eugene Y. Park, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akiv2ji6EiY&t=18m55s from the 18:55 mark of the YouTube video to the 19:30 mark of the YouTube video] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200901121608/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akiv2ji6EiY&t=18m55s |date=1 September 2020 }}, said, "''And, these master narratives, genealogically connect all descent lines of a same surname and ancestral seat, to a single, common, ancestor. And, this was the pattern that was, that became universal by the nineteenth century. Whereas, genealogies published in the seventeenth century, actually, frankly admit that we do not know how these different lines of the same surname or ancestral seat are related or connected at all. So, all these changes took place only in the last two hundred years or so.''"</ref> Only a small percentage of Koreans had surnames and ancestral seats to begin with, and that the rest of the Korean population had adopted these surname and ancestral seat identities within the last two to three hundred years.<ref>Eugene Y. Park, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akiv2ji6EiY&t=46m17s from the 46:17 mark of the YouTube video to the 47:02 mark of the YouTube video] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200905151324/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akiv2ji6EiY&t=46m17s |date=5 September 2020 }}, said, "''At any rate, so, once, so, based on one's surname Kim, let's say, and the ancestral seat, [[Kim (Korean surname)#Gimhae (Kimhae)|Kimhae]], which is the most common ancestral seat among Kim surname Koreans, one can then look up, consult reference books, encyclopedias, go online to, find all these stories about different branches, famous individuals who are Kimhae Kim. But the problem is, of course, before the early modern era, only a small percentage of Koreans had surnames and the ancestral seat to begin with. In other words, the rest of the population had adopted these identities in the last two-three hundred years, so where does one go from there? And, this was definitely my challenge when I was a child.''"</ref>

==Culture==
{{Main|Culture of Korea|Culture of North Korea|Culture of South Korea}}
North Korea and South Korea share a common heritage, but the [[Division of Korea|political division]] since 1945 has resulted in some divergence of their modern cultures.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}

==Language==
{{Main|Korean language|Hangul}}
The language of the Korean people is the [[Korean language]], which uses ''[[Hangul]]'', invented by [[Sejong the Great]], as its main writing system. Daily usage of ''[[Hanja]]'' has been phased out in Korean peninsula other than usage by some South Korean newspapers and media companies when referring to key politicians (e.g. current and former Presidents, leaders of major political parties) or handful of countries (e.g. China, Japan, Canada, United States, United Kingdom) as an abbreviation. Otherwise, Hanja is exclusively used for academic, historical and religious purposes. Roman alphabet is the de facto secondary writing system in South Korea especially for loan words and is widely used in day-to-day and official communication. There are more than 78 million speakers of the Korean language worldwide.<ref name="ethnologue.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=kor |title=Korean |work=ethnologue |access-date=1 January 2013 |archive-date=18 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080918063934/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=kor |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Demographics==
[[File:Korea-Seoul-Royal wedding ceremony 1365-06.JPG|thumb|Traditional Korean royal wedding ceremony with the male wearing royal costume]]
{{main|Korean diaspora|Demographics of South Korea}}
Large-scale emigration from Korea began as early as the mid-1860s, mainly into the [[Russian Far East]] and [[Northeast China]] (also historically known by the [[Endonym and exonym|exonym]] [[Manchuria]]); these populations would later grow to more than two million [[Koreans in China]] and several hundred thousand [[Koryo-saram]] (ethnic Koreans in Central Asia and the former [[USSR]]).<ref name="LeeKK">{{cite book|title=Overseas Koreans|author=Lee Kwang-kyu|publisher=Jimoondang|location=Seoul|year=2000|isbn=978-89-88095-18-8}}
</ref><ref name="SJKim">{{cite conference|title=The Economic Status and Role of Ethnic Koreans in China|book-title=The Korean Diaspora in the World Economy|last=Kim|first=Si-joong|pages=Ch. 6: 101–131|publisher=Institute for International Economics|url=http://www.iie.com/publications/chapters_preview/365/6iie3586.pdf|year=2003|access-date=5 February 2008|archive-date=27 March 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327102244/http://www.iie.com/publications/chapters_preview/365/6iie3586.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> During the [[Korea under Japanese rule]] of 1910–1945, Koreans were often recruited and or forced into labour service to work in [[mainland Japan]], [[Karafuto Prefecture]] ([[Sakhalin]]), and [[Manchukuo]]; the ones who chose to remain in Japan at the end of the war became known as [[Zainichi Koreans]], while the roughly 40,000 Koreans who were trapped in Karafuto after the Soviet invasion are typically referred to as [[Sakhalin Koreans]].<ref name="Byong">{{cite news|last=Ban |first=Byung-yool |title=Koreans in Russia: Historical Perspective |date=22 September 2004 |access-date=20 November 2006 |url=http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200409/kt2004092218583111950.htm |work=[[The Korea Times]]|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050318164348/http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200409/kt2004092218583111950.htm |archive-date=18 March 2005}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.japanfocus.org/products/details/2220|title=Legal Categories, Demographic Change and Japan's Korean Residents in the Long Twentieth Century|last1=Nonzaki|first1=Yoshiki|last2=Inokuchi|first2=Hiromitsu|last3=Kim|first3=Tae-Young|journal=The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus|volume=4|issue=9|date=4 September 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070125052048/http://www.japanfocus.org/products/details/2220|archive-date=25 January 2007}}</ref>

=== South Korea ===
[[File:Folklorecoreano.jpg|thumb|Korean folklore show in [[La Coruña]], [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]], ([[Spain]]).]]
In June 2012, South Korea's population reached 50 million<ref>{{cite news|title=South Korea's population passes 50 million|url=http://www.asianewsnet.net/home/news.php?id=32310|date=22 July 2012|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130828073327/http://www.asianewsnet.net/news-32310.html|archive-date=28 August 2013}}</ref> and by the end of 2016, South Korea's population has surpassed 51 million people.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL|title=Population, total {{!}} Data|website=data.worldbank.org|access-date=12 April 2018|archive-date=28 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190528005736/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL|url-status=live}}</ref> Since the 2000s, South Korea has been struggling with a low birthrate, leading some researchers to suggest that if current population trends hold, the country's population will shrink to approximately 38 million population towards the end of the 21st century.<ref>These estimates are based on UN population division of 2017 version.</ref> In 2018, fertility in South Korea became again a topic of international debate after only 26,500 babies were born in October and an estimated of 325,000 babies in the year, causing the country to have the lowest birth rate in the world.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pulsenews.co.kr/view.php?year=2018&no=805398|archive-url=https://archive.today/20190123040242/https://pulsenews.co.kr/view.php?year=2018&no=805398|url-status=dead|archive-date=23 January 2019|title=S. Korea's childbirth tally drops to another historic low in October …|date=23 January 2019|website=archive.fo|access-date=23 January 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/asia/2018/06/30/south-koreas-fertility-rate-is-the-lowest-in-the-world|title=South Korea's fertility rate is the lowest in the world|date=30 June 2018|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=23 January 2019|archive-date=23 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190123223517/https://www.economist.com/asia/2018/06/30/south-koreas-fertility-rate-is-the-lowest-in-the-world|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2019/01/119_262267.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20190130015554/https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2019/01/119_262267.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=30 January 2019|title=Fertility rate dips below 1 in 2018: official|date=30 January 2019|website=archive.fo|access-date=30 January 2019}}</ref>

===North Korea===
{{further|Demographics of North Korea}}
[[File:Panmunjeom inside barack.jpg|thumb|North Korean soldiers wearing Soviet-inspired uniform in the [[Joint Security Area]]]]
Estimating the size, growth rate, [[Human sex ratio|sex ratio]], and age structure of North Korea's population has been extremely difficult. Until release of official data in 1989, the 1963 edition of the North Korea Central Yearbook was the last official publication to disclose population figures. After 1963 demographers used varying methods to estimate the population. They either totalled the number of delegates elected to the [[Supreme People's Assembly]] (each delegate representing 50,000 people before 1962 and 30,000 people afterwards) or relied on official statements that a certain number of persons, or percentage of the population, was engaged in a particular activity. Thus, on the basis of remarks made by President [[Kim Il Sung]] in 1977 concerning school attendance, the population that year was calculated at 17.2 million persons. During the 1980s, health statistics, including life expectancy and causes of mortality, were gradually made available to the outside world.<ref name="Savada1994">{{Country study|article=''North Korea: A Country Study''|url=https://archive.org/details/PAM550-81|editor-last=Savada|editor-first=Andreas Matles|accessdate=27 July 2013}} Fourth ed. Washington: Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress. {{ISBN|0-8444-0794-1}}.{{page needed|date=June 2022}}</ref>

In 1989, the [[Central Bureau of Statistics (North Korea)|Central Bureau of Statistics]] released demographic data to the [[United Nations Population Fund]] in order to secure the UNFPA's assistance in holding North Korea's first nationwide census since the establishment of the state in 1948. Although the figures given to the United Nations might have been distorted, it appears that in line with other attempts to open itself to the outside world, the North Korean regime has also opened somewhat in the demographic realm. Although the country lacks trained demographers, accurate data on household registration, migration, and births and deaths are available to North Korean authorities. According to the United States scholar [[Nicholas Eberstadt]] and demographer Brian Ko, vital statistics and personal information on residents are kept by agencies on the ''ri'' ("village", the [[Administrative divisions of North Korea#Third-level divisions|local administrative unit]]) level in rural areas and the ''dong'' ("district" or "block") level in urban areas.<ref name="Savada1994" />

=== Korean diaspora ===
Korean emigration to the U.S. was known to have begun as early as 1903, but the [[Korean Americans|Korean American]] community did not grow to a significant size until after the passage of the [[Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965]]; as of 2017, excluding the undocumented and uncounted, roughly 1.85 million Koreans emigrants and people of Korean descent live in the United States according to the official figure by the US Census.<ref name="koreanamericanstory.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.koreanamericanstory.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=199&Itemid=134|title=KoreanAmericanStory.org|website=KoreanAmericanStory.org|access-date=24 December 2013|archive-date=24 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224083916/http://www.koreanamericanstory.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=199&Itemid=134|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Greater Los Angeles Area]] and [[New York metropolitan area]] in the United States contain the largest populations of ethnic Koreans outside of Korea or China. The Korean population in the United States represents a small share of the American economy, but has a disproportionately positive impact.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}} [[Korean Americans]] have a savings rate double that of the U.S. average and also graduate from college at a rate double that of the U.S. average, providing highly skilled and educated professionals to the American workforce.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}} According to the U.S. Census Bureau's Census 2021 data, median household earnings for Korean Americans was $82,946, approximately 19.0% higher than the U.S. average at the time of $69,717.<ref name="United States Census Bureau">{{cite web |url =https://data.census.gov/table?q=asian%20alone&t=001:016:018:023:Educational%20Attainment:Employment:Income%20(Households,%20Families,%20Individuals):Occupation&y=2021 |title=Selected Population Profile in the United States |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |date=2021 |access-date=29 May 2024}}</ref>

Significant Overseas Korean populations are also present in China, Japan, Argentina, Brazil, and Canada as well. The number of [[Koreans in Indonesia]] grew during the 1980s, while during the 1990s and 2000s the number of [[Koreans in the Philippines]] and [[Koreans in Vietnam]] have also grown significantly.<ref name="Forbes">{{cite news|url=http://members.forbes.com/global/2006/0918/028.html|title=Ho Chi Minh Money Trail|last=Kelly|first=Tim|date=18 September 2006|work=[[Forbes]]|access-date=27 March 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180216073522/http://members.forbes.com/global/2006/0918/028.html|archive-date=16 February 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Meinardus">{{cite news|url=http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/opinion/200512/kt2005121517211054280.htm|title="Korean Wave" in Philippines|last=Meinardus|first=Ronaldo|date=15 December 2005|access-date=16 February 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060113170244/http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/opinion/200512/kt2005121517211054280.htm|archive-date=13 January 2006|url-status=dead|work=[[The Korea Times]]}}</ref> In Central Asia, significant populations reside in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, as well as parts of Russia including the [[Russian Far East|Far East]]. Known as [[Koryo-saram]], many of these are descendants of Koreans who were forcely deported during the Soviet Union's [[Stalin]] regime.<ref>{{citation |last=Pohl |first=J. Otto |title=Ethnic Cleansing in the USSR, 1937-1949 |publisher=Greenwood |isbn=0-313-30921-3 |year=1999 |page=11}}</ref> The Korean overseas community of [[Uzbekistan]] is the 5th largest outside Korea.<ref name="MOFA"/>

[[British Koreans]] now form Western Europe's largest Korean community, albeit still relatively small; [[Koreans in Germany]] used to outnumber those in the UK until the late 1990s. In Australia, [[Korean Australians]] comprise a modest minority. Koreans have migrated{{where|date=March 2021}} significantly since the 1960s.

===Part-Korean populations===
[[Pak Noja]] said that there were 5,747 Japanese-Korean couples in Korea at the end of 1941.<!--This information is in the paragraph that starts with "The renewed emphasis was". The article uses Pak Noja's former name of "Vladimir Tikhonov" in green text under his photograph.--><ref>[[Pak Noja|Tikhonov, Vladimir]]. (2013). Korean-Japanese Marriages in 1920s-40s Korean Prose. [[University of Texas at Austin]] Center for East Asian Studies. Retrieved 31 May 2017, from [http://liberalarts.utexas.edu/eastasia/events/event.php?id=28377 link.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200704034919/https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/eastasia/events/event.php?id=28377 |date=4 July 2020 }}</ref> Pak Cheil estimated there to be 70,000 to 80,000 "semi-Koreans" in Japan in the years immediately after the war.<!--This information is in the third paragraph of page 89. The phrase "years immediately after the war" is a rewording of the source text's phrase "immediate postwar years".--><ref>Lie, John. (2008). Zainichi (Koreans in Japan): Diasporic Nationalism and Postcolonial Identity. Berkeley: [[University of California Press]]. p. 89. Retrieved 31 May 2017, from [https://books.google.com/books?id=Pjpb7UgTheoC&q=Pak%20Cheil%20estimated link.]</ref> Many of them remained in Japan as [[Zainichi Koreans]], maintaining their Korean heritage. However, due to assimilation, their numbers are much lower in recent times.

[[Kopino]]s are people of mixed [[Filipinos|Filipino]] and Korean descent. The 'Mixed Filipino Heritage Act of 2020' estimated there were around 30,000 Kopinos.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mixed Filipino Heritage Act of 2020 |url=https://legacy.senate.gov.ph/lis/bill_res.aspx?congress=18&q=SBN-1300 |access-date=30 September 2022 |archive-date=30 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220930060702/https://legacy.senate.gov.ph/lis/bill_res.aspx?congress=18&q=SBN-1300 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Lai Đại Hàn]] is a Vietnamese term referring to mixed children born to South Korean men and South Vietnamese women during the [[Vietnam War]]. These children were largely conceived as the result of wartime rape. No exact data is available on the number of Korean-Vietnamese because many of them choose to conceal their roots, but an estimate by a Korean scholar says the number of Lai Dai Han around the world is at least 5,000 to as many as 150,000.<ref name="kameyama">A. Kameyama, ''Betonamu Sensou, Saigon Souru, Toukyou [Vietnam War, Saigon, Seoul, Tokyo]'', [[Iwanami Shoten Publishing]], 1972, p. 122</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=28 April 2022 |title=Vietnam War Rape Survivors Demand Justice from South Korea - Bringing Justice to the Lai Dai Han|website= Bringing Justice to the Lai Dai Han |url=http://lai-daihan.com/south-korea-denies-the-lai-dai-han-legal-rights/ |access-date=25 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221025223820/http://lai-daihan.com/south-korea-denies-the-lai-dai-han-legal-rights/ |archive-date=25 October 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hyun-ju |first=Ock |date=27 November 2019 |title=[Feature] Lai Dai Han people still seeking apology, roots in Korea |url=https://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20191127000657 |access-date=3 September 2022 |website=[[The Korea Herald]] |language=en |archive-date=3 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220903131015/https://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20191127000657 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==See also==
{{portal|North Korea|South Korea}}
*[[Korean Wave]]
*[[Demographics of South Korea]]
*[[Ethnic groups in Asia]]
*[[History of Korea]]
*[[Koreatown]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
* {{cite book|author1=서의식|author2=강봉룡|date=6 February 2024 |script-title=ko:뿌리 깊은 한국사, 샘이 깊은 이야기: 고조선, 삼국|isbn=978-89-8133-536-6}}
* {{cite book |last = Barnes |first = Gina Lee |title = The Rise of Civilization in East Asia: The Archaeology of China, Korea and Japan |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=y1c_cAAACAAJ |year = 1993 |publisher=Thames and Hudson |isbn = 978-0-500-27974-8 }}
* {{cite book |last = Nelson |first = Sarah M. |title = The Archaeology of Korea |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=sANORB_MSRUC&pg=PA147 |year = 1993 |publisher = Cambridge University Press |isbn = 978-0-521-40783-0 }}
* {{citation |ref=CITEREFMOFA2013 |url=http://www.mofa.go.kr/webmodule/htsboard/template/read/korboardread.jsp?typeID=6&boardid=232&seqno=347383&c=&t=&pagenum=1&tableName=TYPE_DATABOARD&pc=&dc=&wc=&lu=&vu=&iu=&du= |script-title=ko:재외동포현황 |trans-title=Status of Compatriots Abroad |publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade |date=2013-09-30 |access-date=2015-04-30}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book|last=Breen|first=Michael|title=The Koreans: Who They Are, What They Want, Where Their Future Lies|year=2004|publisher=St. Martin's Press|location=New York|isbn=978-1-4668-6449-8}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline}}
* {{Wikiquote-inline}}
* [http://www.kamuseum.org/ Korean American Museum]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051026172850/http://mindan.org/eng/ Korean Residents Union in Japan (Mindan)]

{{Korean peoples}}
{{Korea topics}}
{{East Asian topics |state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Korean people| ]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Korea]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in North Korea]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in South Korea]]