Korean immigration to Mexico

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Korean Mexican
Coreano Mexicano 한국계 멕시코인
Total population
12,072 (2009)[1]
Regions with significant populations
Yucatán, Baja California, Mexico City
Religion

Mahayana Buddhism[2]

Related ethnic groups

Korean diaspora

Korean Mexicans[citation needed] (Spanish: Coreano-Mexicanos, Korean: 한국계 멕시코인 Hangukgye mekshikoin) are ethnic Koreans born in Mexico. The majority of them reside in Baja California, the state facing the U.S. state of California, and there are smaller concentrations in northern Mexico and in the state of Queretaro.

Koreans first arrived in 1905 to the state of Yucatan, where they were used as laborers in the henequen plantations. Over generations, Koreans in the Yucatan Peninsula have intermarried with Native Americans, such as the Maya, but their presence is still visible in cities such as Mérida. In Baja California, the Korean Mexican population is also very large with the majority of the Korean descendants being mixed with Spanish and/or Amerindian ancestry. Mainly because when Korean immigrants arrived in Mexico many generations ago, they were not in enclaved ethnic communities as like in the U.S. and Canada, so intermarriage between Koreans and Mexicans were highly encouraged from the Korean Mexican society producing a unique and indistinguishable offspring of people mixed Korean, Spanish/European, and Amerindian ancestry.

Korean restaurants in Mexico City.

Language[edit]

The language of the assimilated Korean Mexicans is predominantly Spanish, but a new wave of Korean Mexicans speak Spanish and/or English. There are many English-learning Korean-Mexican schools (escuelas coreanas) for the recent Korean immigrants.[citation needed]

References[edit]

  1. ^ 재외동포현황, South Korea: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 2009, retrieved 2009-05-21 
  2. ^ Korean Buddhist congregations in Mexico, Buddha Dharma Education Association, 2006, retrieved 2010-05-01 

External links[edit]