Political Culture and Ideology of the Korean Minority in China

The Korean minority in China has developed an ideology and belief system different from those found elsewhere in China or in North or South Korea. Due in part to the accommodating nature of the nationality policies of the Chinese government, the Koreans have maintained a strong sense of ethnic identity, observable most clearly in the numerous Korean publications and cultural activity found in northeast China. The local Korean culture is seen by some of the residents of Jilin Province as having even a greater purity than the culture of either North or South Korea, being unaffected by Western influence or political dogmatism. The belief system most apparent in the Korean minority community combines factors adapted from Marxist ideologies, such as a favoring of atheism and socialism, with traditional Korean authority patterns and a strong sense of nationalism. Based on the author's trips through the region, it appears that the Koreans in northeast China have a mixed opinion of the situations in North and South Korea, favoring the North Korean insistence on self-reliance but rejecting the personality cult of Kim Il Sung, and applauding the economic achievements of South Korea while opposing the presence of American troops. The need for reunification of the peninsula is widely seen to be imperative, based on both pragmatic and humanitarian grounds.