Indians in Korea
주한 인도인
Regions with significant populations
South Korea24,414 (2013)[1]
North Korea586 (2015)[2]
Languages
Hindi · Other Indian languages · Korean
Religion
Majority Hinduism
Related ethnic groups
Indians in Japan · Indians in Russia
A commemorative Rs. 25.00 postage stamp on Princess Suriratna (Queen Heo Hwang-ok ) was issued by India in 2019.
A commemorative Rs. 5.00 postage stamp on Queen Heo Hwang-ok (Princess Suriratna) was issued by India in 2019.

Indians in Korea consist of migrants diaspora from India to Korea and their locally born descendants. A majority of them live in Seoul and Busan while there are smaller populations living in other parts of Korea.

History of Indian migration

Heo Hwang-ok: the Indian Princess & Queen of Korea

According to the 11th century legendary chronicle Samguk Yusa, Heo Hwang-ok, the consort of Suro of Geumgwan Gaya was originally a princess from a kingdom called Ayuta. In the 20th century, Kim Byung-Mo, an anthropologist from the Hanyang University, identified Ayuta with Ayodhya in India based on phonetic similarity.[3] Heo Hwang-ok is considered an ancestor by several Korean lineages, which has led to Korean interest in Ayodhya, resulting in the construction of a Memorial of Heo Hwang-ok there.[4][5]

In 673 CE, Chinese Buddhist pilgrim, Yijing who reached India, recorded that the people of Indian subcontinent were familiar with Korea's customs and beliefs and they regarded Koreans as "worshipers of the rooster". This concept about Koreans was grounded in a legend of the Silla dynasty.[6]

Malananta: the 4th century Indian Buddhist monk in Korea

Buddhist expansion in Asia, from Buddhist heartland in northern India (dark orange) starting 5th century BCE, to Buddhist majority realm (orange), and historical extent of Buddhism influences (yellow). Mahāyāna (red arrow), Theravāda (green arrow), and Tantric-Vajrayāna (blue arrow). The overland and maritime "Silk Roads" were interlinked and complementary, forming what scholars have called the "great circle of Buddhism".[7]

The two oldest extant histories of Korea Samguk yusa and Samguk sagi record the following 3 monks among first to bring the Buddhist teaching, or Dharma, to Korea in the 4th century during the Three Kingdoms period. These mention the following monks: Malananta (मेघानंदा, Meghananda, Melananda or cloud monk)- an Indian Buddhist monk who came via Serindian area of southern China's Eastern Jin Dynasty. He was received by the King Chimnyu of Baekje in the southern Korea in 384 CE. King adopted Buddhism and Buddhism became the state religion. Other two monks who introduced Buddhism to the remaining 2 parts of the Three Kingdoms were Sundo - a monk from the northern Chinese state Former Qin who brought Buddhism to Goguryeo in northern Korea in 372 CE and Ado monk who brought Buddhism to Silla in central Korea.[8][9]

Korean War

Indian troops of the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission disembarking at Incheon, 1 September 1953.

While the Indian army did not get involved militarily in the Korean War, they sent a medical unit, the 60 Parachute Field Ambulance, which served in Korea for a total of three and a half years (Nov 1950- May 1954), the longest single tenure by any military unit under the UN flag.

They were involved in providing medical cover alternately to the US Army/ROK forces and the Commonwealth Division under the UN Command as well as the local civilians, and earned the informal title, "The Maroon Angels". The unit also looked after the North Korean POWs. The unit provided an ADS and a surgical team (7 officers and 5 other ranks) during Operation Tomahawk, an airborne operation launched on 21 March 1951 by the US Army's 187 Airborne Regimental Combat Team.

Towards the end of the Korean War in 1953, a reinforced brigade known as the Custodian Force of India was deployed for the repatriation of the prisoners of war and was deployed for almost two years (1953–54).

After the Division of Korea

South Korea has been gaining popularity among Indian expatriates. Since the 1970s, many Indians have been coming to South Korea and now there are about 7,006 Indians as per International Migration Report, living and working in the country.

According to officials of the Indian mission in South Korea, over 1,000 engineers and software professionals have recently come to South Korea, working for large conglomerates such as LG, Hyundai and Samsung, which have today become household names back in India.[10][11] There are also around 125 Indian scientists and post-doctoral research scholars working or conducting research at various institutions in the country. Indian companies are also making inroads in South Korea. The agreement between Indian and South Korea on IT will leverage the IT software capabilities of India and IT hardware capabilities of South Korea, resulting in an increased flow of IT professionals between the two countries.

Skilled IT professionals and researchers

Recently there has been an influx of many skilled IT professionals and researchers due to investment in emerging technologies by major companies.[12][13] South Korean companies are now keen to employ Indian engineers and are offering them salaries that are above par even by western standards.[14][15] The companies are also extending support for free housing and food.[16]

Professional cooks

With the popularity of Indian cuisine in Korea, others are cooks whose speciality is Indian cuisine. Most of them work at restaurant in Seoul, Busan and Daegu and other cities. Some of them are hired by Korean owner of Indian restaurant and hotels, others own their restaurant.

Notable people

Organizations and associations

With close to ten thousands Indian population, Several organisations in South Korea support Indian community. Some notable communities which are active includes 1. Indian Students and Researchers in South Korea (ISRK) - represents close to 4000 researchers, Post Docs and students in Korea. They do various activities to support students communities. 2. Indians in Korea - Busan based organisation is known for organising Busan Holi festival every year. 3. IndiansInKorea" (also known as IIK) with more than 5000 members (www.indiansinkorea.com) 4. Indian Association of Korea with mainly professionals as members. 5. Annapurna Indian Women's Association.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Major indicators of Korea, South Korea: Korean Statistical Information Service, 2009, p. 262, retrieved 2011-03-21
  2. ↑ "World Migration | International Organization for Migration". Iom.int. Archived from the original on May 1, 2019. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  3. ↑ Choong Soon Kim (2011). Voices of Foreign Brides: The Roots and Development of Multiculturalism in Korea. AltaMira. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-7591-2037-2.
  4. ↑ Korean memorial to Indian princess, 6 March 2001, BBC
  5. ↑ Legacy of Queen Suriratna, 6 Dec. 2016, The Korea Times
  6. ↑ Korea Journal Vol.28. No.12 (Dec. 1988)
  7. ↑ Acri, Andrea (20 December 2018). "Maritime Buddhism". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.638. ISBN 9780199340378. Archived from the original on 19 February 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  8. ↑ "Malananta bring Buddhism to Baekje" in Samguk Yusa III, Ha & Mintz translation, pp. 178-179.
  9. ↑ Kim, Won-yong (1960), "An Early Gilt-bronze Seated Buddha from Seoul", Artibus Asiae, 23 (1): 67–71, doi:10.2307/3248029, JSTOR 3248029, pg. 71
  10. ↑ "Indian Techies in South Korea". Archived from the original on 2011-09-10. Retrieved 2011-01-30.
  11. ↑ IT professionals dominate Indian diaspora in South Korea.
  12. ↑ "Samsung Electronics to set up AI research center".
  13. ↑ "Samsung tops at IIT campus placements while Microsoft dips in its hiring numbers".
  14. ↑ "Samsung places 10 IIT-B students in S Korea for 150,000 USD".
  15. ↑ "IIT placements: Google, Samsung offer top salaries".
  16. ↑ "Samsung places 10 IIT-B students in S Korea for 150,000 USD".
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