Each nationality has its own specific features that are unusual for representatives of other nations and cultures. One of the brightest representatives of such nationalities are considered Koreans. Their many traditions and customs are fundamentally different from our established norms relating to a variety of areas.

I propose to get acquainted with the ten most interesting features of the Korean way of life, which distinguish this Asian people from many others.

Men, Women and Children: Personal and Social Relationships in Korean

The first thing that significantly differs the people of Korea is their relationship. Residents of the country see the role of masculine and feminine in a slightly different way than we do. Here prevails matriarchy, and it is the woman who is considered the head of the family.

Moreover, the Koreans consider St. Valentine exclusively the patron saint of the "weak" (that is, for them it means male) half. Therefore, on February 14, in souvenir shops you can meet mostly women choosing gifts for their loved ones. However, exactly one month later, the situation changes. On March 14, the country celebrates White Day, when gifts are already received by women.

It is interesting to note that both in February and March, cosmetic stores make a solid bargain. The fact is that Korean men are quite normal about makeup. At the same time, if for many of us painted young man still continues to evoke a feeling of hostility, then in this country a man with makeup is a completely normal and common phenomenon.

Koreans believe that in this way they take care of their appearance. Therefore, the phrase “can I take your mascara?” is normal for dialogues between spouses.

The next interesting feature of the Korean people is age. If, for example, you are 25, and you meet a Korean who names exactly the same number of years in relation to himself, then by our standards he is still only 24.

A child spends 9 months in the mother's womb, and the people of Korea believe that this period must be included in the general life treasury. Therefore, three months after birth, a Korean turns a year old. Agree that although such a position is rather unusual for us, it is quite logical.

Another difference of social life in Korea is the incredible industriousness. The average working day in most companies is 14 hours. Thus, most Koreans spend more time at work than with their families.

Often, many of them appear at home only on weekends, which is associated with long distances to the place of work. Therefore, large enterprises often equip collective rest rooms, where employees spend the night between work shifts.

Education and life

Koreans are very sensitive to questions. parenting. There are two important points here that parents must pay attention to. The first of these is respect for the older generation. The second concerns the development of communication skills.

Koreans try from early childhood to prepare the younger generation for future family life and existence in a collective environment. At the same time, they do not forget about the development of the intellectual abilities of children.

Warm and favorable relationships in Korean families are complemented by the desire to provide comfortable living conditions. Koreans in their scrupulousness reach the point that in many houses and apartments electrically heated toilets.

The same unusual "resting places" can be found in many restaurants, clubs and boutiques. At the same time, warm toilets often cause queues near toilets in public places.

The most terrible tradition of the Korean people for us, of course, is considered eating dog meat. However, in recent years this custom has almost disappeared. Most Koreans began to prefer more natural food for other nationalities.

Also, they never eat their pets. For cooking, only the meat of dogs of a specially bred breed was used and is used now.

Signs and superstitions: almost like ours, but a little different

Speaking about the national characteristics of the Korean people, it is also worth noting some of the signs and superstitions characteristic of the representatives of the nation. Panic is considered the most striking among them. fear of the number "4". Like our number "13", this serial number is often absent from the numbering of floors in hotels and office buildings.

Moreover, in some of them all other numbers containing a four are excluded. Also interesting is the fact that the cost of real estate, in the number of which there is an ill-fated figure, can be significantly lower than analogues.

The next unusual sign for us is to establish taboo on red ink or paste. Any letter or gift signed in this color will be regarded by Koreans as a manifestation of hatred.

Locals believe that it is the red color that symbolizes death. Therefore, do not try to give your Korean friend a gift signed with a scarlet pen or marker. The recipient of such a "surprise" will perceive it as a wish for death, and will become your worst enemy.

Another sign of the Koreans, incomprehensible to us, is the opinion about the dangers of sleeping with the fan on. However, this time everything is very simply explained. The local climate is rather dry and hot. Therefore, it is contraindicated for people with a weak heart to spend nights under rotating blades. The abrupt transition from cool to incredible heat after turning off the fan can cause very unpleasant consequences.

October 29th, 2013

Vyacheslav Shipilov

Of all the nations and nationalities that have naturalized in Russia, it is not possible to say about all of them when exactly they appeared in the Russian state. But history marked the arrival of the Koreans in Russia with an accuracy of up to a year and even up to a month. And they appeared, as they say, at the right time and in the right place.

INSTALLATION ON THE FACT

First of all, Lieutenant Vasily Ryazanov reported in his report on the appearance of Koreans on the territory of Russia. This was the very first official information about this unexpected fact. In 1863-1866, Ryazanov commanded the 4th company of the 3rd line battalion of Eastern Siberia in the post of Novgorod, now the port of Posyet. At the same time, he was the head of the post itself, exercising the entirety of military-administrative power here.
In September 1864, on the basis of a report from Lieutenant Ryazanov, Colonel Fyodor Oldenburg, correcting the post of inspector of the line battalions of Eastern Siberia, compiled his memorandum. He informed the military governor of the Primorsky region, Admiral Pyotr Kazakevich, about the appearance of Koreans in Russian borders: “... the commander of this company reported to me that 14 families, including 65 souls of both sexes, moved from Korea in January of this year to the Primorsky region, built fanzas 15 miles From the post of Novgorod, they are successfully engaged in gardening, farming and promise to be quite useful hosts in their diligence.
Thus was founded the first non-military settlement in the South Ussuri region with the name Tizinhe. In less than a year, the first crop of corn, millet, barley, and vegetables was harvested in the valley of the Tizinhe River (now the Vinogradnaya River). At the same time, Korean peasants helped the Russian military to make a multi-pood supply of buckwheat. “Buckwheat in full seed, winnowed and at a reasonable price, which makes both sides happy,” Lieutenant Ryazanov told the quartermasters at the Vladivostok post.

A year later, in the neighborhood, in the valley of the river of the same name, the Korean village of Yanchihe appeared. Today it is the village of Tsukanovo on the banks of the Tsukanovka River. Soon, more and more Korean settlements began to appear along the banks of the Adimi, Sidemi and Mangugai, reshaped in 1972 into the Poyma, Narva and Barabashevka, and they did not have time to put them on the map ... The same Adimi "overgrown" along the river with the Upper Adimi and Lower Adimi. And so on all local rivers, and even without any reference to them. Directly from the Russian-Korean border, “foreign settlements” began to multiply like mushrooms after rain. Or better to say - like icicles in an unexpected winter thaw, because the Koreans rushed to Russian territory mainly in winter.

Why in winter?

Korean commoners - "pyeongmins" - in the full sense of the word fled from their country. They fled from several years of crop failures and famine. They fled from landlessness and the unbearable oppression of the feudal lords - "yangbans", from the oppression of the "wons" - insatiable and ruthless officials. If there was anything left for the Korean defectors, it was life. And they risked in full measure: either pan or disappeared, because attempts to leave Korea were punishable by death. This is how the feudal self-isolation of the country manifested itself in the era of the Li dynasty (1392-1910). When Nikolai Przhevalsky, traveling around the South Ussuri Territory, managed to visit the Korean border town of Kygen-Pu in October 1867, he became convinced of the serious persecution of unauthorized emigrants. The head of the city "... by the name of Yun Hab and with the rank of captain ... asked to tell our authorities to give back all the Koreans who had resettled to us, and he would immediately order all of them to cut off their heads."

The desperate Koreans were separated from saving Russia only by the border river with the Udege name Tumen-Ula. Now it is designated in Russian as the Tumannaya River, and in Korean - Tumangan. The Russian-Korean border had 16.4 versts (17.5 kilometers). Right on the river. It was not difficult for the neighboring authorities to block such a border along the entire length of the Korean coast. The width of Tumen-Ula was here from 70 to 95 fathoms (150-200 meters), you could even notice a single swimmer. But the Korean “pyongmins” fled to Russia not one by one, but by entire families, even entire villages: both women and children. Old people were not left to fend for themselves either. At the same time, Korean defectors took with them all their belongings, all household utensils and domestic animals, drove the available cattle. How was it possible to quickly and imperceptibly cross the border river? Even taking into account the fact that the river fully justified its name about fogs. But where to get an incredible number of boats, rafts, ferries and other watercraft? Therefore, the Korean encampments could take the river only on the move, that is, on the ice! And with a successful escape from Korea, winter then gave time to prepare for spring sowing in a new place.

WERE YOURS, BECAME OURS

The tsarist authorities did not prevent the arrival and settlement of Koreans on completely free lands. There were simply no other tillers in the South Ussuri Territory. And the Korean defectors were most welcome. They began to economically develop the Southern Primorye as soon as the desert land was ceded to Russia under the Beijing Treaty of 1860. And the Russian peasant still had a year left before the abolition of serfdom and up to three years on foot to set foot on new lands ...

The first Russian settlement on the territory of the Posyet camp dates back to 1867. We are talking about the village of Novokievsky, that is, the modern village of Kraskino. It was founded by retired army and navy lower ranks, investing in the name the hope that Novokievsk would turn into the “mother of Russian cities” on the Pacific outskirts of Russia. And the first settlers here were Voronezh, Tambov and Astrakhan peasants. It took them a long time to learn how to combine the experience of European agriculture with farming in completely unfamiliar natural and climatic conditions. It was enough for the Koreans to decide to cross the border in order to become free tillers under the protection of the Russian military.

The Koreans themselves, whether northern or southern, consider their state to be older than Ancient China. If historical science finds the origins of China's statehood in the 19th-18th centuries BC, then the Koreans see the roots of their state already in the depths of the 6th-5th millennium BC. e.! If the first Chinese Yin Dynasty originated in the Bronze Age, then the “foundation of the Korean state by King Tangun” should have occurred back in the depths of the Stone Age, in the late Neolithic era. In principle, Tangun is a character of ancient Korean legends, remaining "the son of the supreme celestial and a bear turned into a woman."

As for the Europeans, they could have learned about the existence of Ancient Joseon, apparently from the Chinese. In particular, through the Venetian merchant and traveler Marco Polo, who returned home from China in 1295. But by and large, as far as we know, Europeans began to penetrate Korea only at the end of the 18th century - in the cassocks of missionaries. True, attempts to describe the coast of Korea were made somewhat earlier, for example, by the French navigator Jean La Perouse in 1785-1788. And Russia was introduced to Korea by the head of the Orthodox mission in Beijing, Father Iakinf, the world famous orientalist and sinologist Nikita Bichurin. From 1806 to 1820 - 14 consecutive years! - he studied China and Northeast Asia from the inside. The scientist drew knowledge about Korea and Koreans from Chinese historical and ethnographic sources. He himself also had meetings with the "Koryos", when they, being vassals of the Celestial Empire, came to the Chinese bogdykhan with a rich annual tribute and offerings.

Direct contact between the Russians and Korea took place during the round-the-world expedition of Admiral Evfimy Putyatin on the frigate Pallada. In April-May 1854, the expedition mapped the eastern shores of Korea, starting from the Komundo Islands in the south and ending with the mouth of the Tumen-Ula River in the north. This is how the writer Ivan Goncharov, who was the secretary under Putyatin, saw the Koreans. In the travel essays “Pallada Frigate” it is reported that the Koreans “both simple and difficult people - they were all dressed in white paper or grassy wide dressing gowns ... in addition, everyone was wearing something like harem pants made of the same materials ... Tall healthy people, athletes with rough swarthy red faces and hands: without any effeminacy in manners, without sophistication and insinuation, like the Japanese, without timidity, like Lycians ... Glorious soldiers would come out of them, but they are infected with Chinese learning and write poetry.

Exactly ten years later, the Russian military administration of the South Ussuri Territory found extremely valuable state peasants in the Korean settlers. They had sufficient experience in cultivating the land in a damp monsoon climate among the hills and along the sea coast. Moreover, the Koreans came with their working cattle and with the necessary set of agricultural implements. Thus, it was possible to quickly and without much stress for the treasury get ready, diligent farmers. They made it possible to solve the problems of food and fodder supply to army and navy units on the spot. And simultaneously with the provision of Russian troops with meat and cereals, hay and oats, the Koreans regularly participated in the construction and maintenance of roads, in the provision of horse-drawn transport for state needs, that is, they performed, as was customary then, road and underwater service.

Three years after the first reports of defectors, the first census of the "Russian" Korean population was carried out. In the report of the official for special assignments under the military governor of the Primorsky region, Fyodor Busse, dated March 6, 1867, it was stated that 143 families consisting of 750 souls lived along the rivers Tizinkha, Sidemi and Mangugay, including 419 males and 331 females, including children. They had 11 horses and 166 heads of cattle in tax on their farm. The average Korean family consisted of five souls. Plus 42 families out of 134 people who were new arrivals and did not have time to find a place to settle6.

AND THEY RAISE A TEMPLE

The Koreans who chose Russia were deeply rooted in Russian soil. They willingly accepted the citizenship of the "white king". Exclusively on their own initiative, the Koreans built the first Orthodox church at the junction of the borders of three states - Russia, Korea and China - in Tizinha. At first, the St. Innokentievsky Church was wooden, and then - from locally fired bricks. The temple, decapitated at the time of the struggle against religion, still serves the Russian state at one of the border outposts. And in the hospitable years, the Orthodox cross also managed to ascend on church domes in Nizhnyaya Yanchikha, Adimi and Zarechye, in Ust-Sidemi and Ust-Mangugai. And all over the Posyet camp floated over the hills "raspberry ringing". Under its shadow, new settlements continued to appear with Korean names in Russian pronunciation: Talmi, Ansan, Dunsoy, Namdong, Khoduvay ...

At the temples built by the Koreans, as was customary then in Russia, parochial schools began to operate. In one-class schools with 3 years of education, classes were held either in Korean, or in Russian and Korean at the same time. In two-class schools with a 5-year course, students learned to read and write only in Russian. Boys and girls attended schools separately. During the first decade of the 1900s, the priests of the Tizinkha St. Innokentievsky Church, the Posietskaya St. Peter and Paul and Adiminsky Nikolo-Aleksandrovskaya churches, Fyodor Pak, Roman Kim, and Vasily Liang, achieved total literacy of children in the parishes they take care of.

On the Krabbe peninsula, the Koreans erected a church in honor of the Apostles Peter and Paul on the occasion of Grand Duke Alexei Romanov's stay in Posyet in April 1873. And in May 1891, the heir to the Russian throne, Nikolai Romanov, arrived in Posyet on the frigate "Memory of Azov". In Vladivostok and in Posyet, he again set foot on the land of the "sovereign Fatherland", having completed his foreign "circumnavigation" after Japan

On the shore of Novgorodskaya Bay, the Tsarevich was met not only by troops in full parade formation. Even more festively dressed locals came. But most of those people were wearing hanboks, the national clothes of the Koreans, which were unprecedented for the capital's eyes. With all the protocol restraint, His Highness did not hide his interest in "foreign subjects." The Tsarevich had a very warm conversation with the Korean village elders, they were then invited to the retinue that accompanied the distinguished guest around Posyet and the surrounding area.

NO CLOSENESS, NO RESPONDENCE

Posyetsky, and now Khasansky district of Primorye immediately turned into the main place of settlement for Korean defectors. And under the threat of Japanese guns in 1871, another wave of refugees from the Land of the Morning Calm overwhelmed the Russian border with Korea. And the authorities of the South Ussuri Territory had to resettle the Koreans outside the Posyet area. Koreans began to naturalize among the Cossacks and settlers from Central Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Poland and Finland. A wooden Korean plow in a yoke with red-brown cattle began to dig up virgin soil along the valleys of the Suifun (Razdolnaya) and Ussuri rivers, in the Suchanskaya (Partizanskaya) and Prikhankayskaya valleys and further along the Amur. Wherever Koreans settled, relations with Russians of European origin, as Busan University professor Lee Chae-hyuk notes today, "flowed against the backdrop of tolerance and the ability to conduct a dialogue." Actually, it was so, given the very wide intercultural communication during the development of the Far East and Primorye.

In 1871, the government decides to transfer the main Pacific port of Russia from the mouth of the Amur (Nikolaevsk) to the Golden Horn (Vladivostok). For the construction of the port, Rear Admiral Alexander Kroun, appointed head of the port of Vladivostok, "... was given the right ... to hire workers from the Chinese and Koreans"8. The Koreans who appeared in Vladivostok "... in order to find their own earnings, take places ... arranging for themselves dugouts for housing." And by 1893, a whole quarter appeared in Vladivostok for immigrants from Korea. In the toponymy of the city, the quarter was called the Korean settlement (on the site of the modern Khabarovskaya street). In a brief historical essay published in 1910 for the 50th anniversary of Vladivostok, its first chronicler Nikolai Matveev noted in 1893: “There were already 2816 people in Korean society, including 86 women and 50 children. There were 29 Korean householders in the city. About 9 thousand rubles were collected in various taxes per year ... The Koreans even had their own court ... their own public foreman and other salaried officials”10. And further, in 1898, “a verdict was drawn up” on the opening of a Russian-Korean school in the city with an allocation of 3 thousand rubles.

In the following decades, the number of Russian and Soviet Koreans in the Far East grew steadily. Their addition was due to new defectors and natural growth. The Korean diaspora settled throughout Primorye and spread across the Amur region, right up to Transbaikalia. All Far Eastern cities had their own Korean communities, starting with the regional "capitals" - Vladivostok and Khabarovsk.

Only twice was there a slight decrease in the number of Koreans in the Far East. The first decline in this dynamics occurred in 1916 in connection with the First World War. Having become an ally of Japan in the Entente, Russia was forced to block spontaneous immigration from Korea annexed by the Japanese. Well, in 1929-1937, the Koreans fled from "solid collectivization" and from the "solution of the national question", preferring Korea and Manchuria, occupied by the Japanese, to the country of victorious socialism. The "peak" in 1929 180,000 Korean population of the Far East was reduced by 1937 to 172,000. And in the fall of 1937, the Koreans were forcibly evicted from the Far East to Central Asia. But this is a topic for a separate discussion.

In the year of the 140th anniversary of the appearance in Russia of the "Joseon Saram" - the people of the Land of the Morning Calm - an all-Russian national cultural festival of Koreans was announced. During 2004 the festival was held in Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Novosibirsk, Rostov-on-Don, St. Petersburg, Moscow. In smaller cities - Ussuriysk, Nakhodka, Bataysk, where Russian Koreans live today, there were also celebrations. Then the festival gradually developed into the events of 2005, connected with the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Korea from the Japanese occupiers by the Soviet troops in 1945. The celebrations began with the opening of a memorial stone in the valley of the Vinogradnaya River, where the first Korean village on Russian soil once appeared - Tizinhe. Almost half a million diaspora of today's Russian Koreans "went" from its first inhabitants. And everywhere Koreans are known as hardworking, persistent and self-confident optimists.

Source - Russian historical journal RODINA

A little about Koreans

Where did Koreans come from?

To the question "who are Koreans?" many will answer "these are Asians, and they live on the Korean Peninsula, in two countries - North and South Korea." And someone may even call them Chinese or Mongols. There are many options, because until now scientists and historians have not come to a single conclusion, continuing to put forward various hypotheses about the origin of the Koreans.

There is a version that for about six thousand years, the Paleo-Asiatic tribes that lived in the north of Siberia settled in Manchuria and the Korean Peninsula, where they met with the Mek tribes that settled there, as a result of which the Korean people formed.

Someone says that the Altai peoples reached from the foothills of the Altai Mountains to Manchuria, the Korean Peninsula and Japan, where they had to resist the Chinese Ikhans, so the tribes eventually rallied, forming the peoples of the Koreans, Mongols, Turks, etc.

There is an opinion that the primitive Tungus are the Koreans, formed as a result of the merger of three tribes: Fan Ung who arrived from Central Asia, Buyo who came from the steppes and saki from Turkey. These three tribes came to the north of China, where they mixed with local peoples, after which they settled on the Korean Peninsula.

But DNA studies show that the Korean people originate from the eastern part of the Sayan Mountains and the vicinity of Lake Baikal. But one thing is for sure - according to the anthropological type, the Koreans belong to the East Asian branch of the Mongoloid race. Modern Koreans speak Korean, call themselves "Joseon Saram" in North Korea, and "Hanguk Saram" in South Korea. Koreans live not only on the Korean Peninsula, there are quite a lot of them in China, the USA and Japan. Russia ranks eighth among these countries with a Korean population of 180,000 people. The very ethnic name of Russian Koreans is “Koryo Saram”.

Koreans. Interesting Facts

• Korean-style carrots - a dish invented by Russian Koreans and not related to traditional Korean cuisine;
• The first thing a Korean will ask you after greeting “Are you hungry?” Food in the Korean mentality is a very important thing;
• Koreans are very hardworking, the loss of a job is the collapse of everything sacred in life;
• Lack of sleep is an indicator of performance. For example, a student on the defense of a diploma must look green and half-dead, otherwise he may be reproached for insufficient diligence;
• For men, in line with a small face, a wasp waist and expressive lips, the ideal of female beauty fits ... big ears;
• Until 1994, a couple with the same surnames could not enter into an official marriage - the register was stamped "relatives" and the couple did not have the opportunity to register their children;
• In Korea, they try to avoid the number 4, because it is consonant with the word "death". Therefore, in buildings often after the third floor comes the fifth, or the four is replaced by the letter F;
• Koreans drink a lot of alcohol. The average annual amount of alcohol per year per capita is 9.1 liters;
• About 90% of Koreans are nearsighted, while they prefer glasses to lenses, as this is considered an indicator of a good mind;
• Baseball is the most popular sport in Korea;
• Plastic surgery is an important part of the life of almost every woman (and men too);
• Many Koreans sing well but dance poorly. That is why they are admired by Hallyu artists;
• You cannot write the name of a living person in red ink - this will bring death to him. The thing is that before the name of the deceased was written in red letters on the tombstone;
• 93% of South Korean students graduate from university;
• South Korea ranks second in the world in terms of the number of people who read;
• The literacy rate in South Korea is 99%;
• Neither North nor South Korea perceive each other as an independent country. That is, South Korea automatically grants citizenship to a resident of the North, as does the North to a resident of the South;
• Every fifth Korean has the surname Kim, the eighth - Lee, the tenth - Pak;
• Koreans do not call the Sea of ​​Japan as such, but call it East. This is due to long-standing conflicts between states.

There was already a precedent in 2004, 10 years ago, when this date was celebrated for the first time in history. It was then that the order of the government of the Russian Federation was issued, which was formulated in this way: "On holding events dedicated to the 140th anniversary of the voluntary resettlement of Koreans in Russia." And now there is an instruction from the Government of the Ministry of Regional Development, which will fully deal with the organizational part of these events. An organizing committee has been created, which includes representatives of regions with a compact population of Russian Koreans. The second meeting of the committee is to be held soon, it is headed by Igor Slyunyaev, Minister of Regional Development of the Russian Federation. An action plan has been approved, including events both in Moscow and in the regions.

What kind of events?

They are very versatile. Let's say the first event will be in Novosibirsk, then in Moscow, Vladivostok. In Novosibirsk, this is an international scientific and practical conference on the history of the resettlement of Koreans in Russia. And on May 20 in Vladivostok, and in Moscow on 26, 27, events with such an unexpected agenda, but unexpected for those who hear it for the first time. And for us, this is one of the priority events on the theme of Orthodoxy and Koreans. This is an old story. It begins in the middle of the 19th century, when Koreans began to move to Russia, and one of the conditions for the resettlement was initiation into the Orthodox faith.

But even then there is a long history of the Russian spiritual mission in Korea, which was founded at the end of the 19th century and lasted until the tragic events of 1917, when another era began. So, the history is very rich and the Koreans attach importance to this, because they associate both faith and spirituality with Orthodoxy, which, in turn, is an important component of the spiritual space and is an important basis for integration. Therefore, the symposium in Vladivostok will continue to be called “Koreans in Russia: history, culture”. Orthodoxy - as one of the ways of integration into the cultural and spiritual space of Russia.

And, in turn, will there be events in Korea?

An organizing committee has been set up there. Koreans also attach great importance to this event. The organizing committee was created on the initiative of Korean parliamentarians and deputies. And the former ambassadors of the Republic of Korea to Russia also entered there. But in general terms, this is an important date for the historical homeland. And what kind of support will be provided is all under discussion.

Tell me, is there a Russian cultural center in Seoul?

Right now, after the New Year, from January 1, a visa-free regime between Russia and South Korea came into force. And as part of this important decision, a bilateral agreement was adopted to open cultural centers in Seoul and Moscow. In Moscow, he is, at the embassy. Koreans attach great importance to the cultural component. The Moscow cultural center will develop. As for South Korea and the presence of Russian culture, the Pushkin House was created there by private organizations, with the active participation of Russian citizens who live there. It is planned to open a cultural center at the embassy in Seoul in order to acquaint Koreans with Russian culture.

So there is such a request?

Yes there is. And this has already been included in the plan of measures that were supported at the state level.

Are there many Russians in Korea?

There are about ten thousand temporarily residing Russian speakers, but mostly they are people who came to work. To a lesser extent for study, business, tourists.

And how is the dialogue of cultures developing among the youth of both countries?

Perhaps, with the opening of cultural centers, this process will go faster, it's just that now is a period when not a very large part of the youth of Russia is aware of, knows the Korean youth culture. Something comes through, but in order to have some kind of idea, it is necessary that there is always a connection not only in a social network. Last year, there were several tours by representatives of the youth of South Korea: various flash mobs, a popular rapper came. But these are single actions, there is no such constant process, all this is in the future. Although, as far as South Korea is concerned, how it looks at Russian culture, the latter is taken as an encore. A lot and constantly come Russian artists. Russian hits are popular and even translated into Korean.

What is the focus on language? You said that lyrics are being translated...

Here in the Russian house, which was opened by South Koreans, there are Russian language courses, free of charge.

What about Korean in Russia?

In Korea, government policy is to introduce Korean culture to the world and spread the Korean language around the world. Including in Russia. Free courses in the Korean cultural center are constantly functioning in Moscow and are in great demand. And they are of great interest. Even already there are not enough teachers, conditions to accept everyone. Language is an important component. The mentality is, first of all, the language, it is the key to another culture. It's nice that Russians are showing interest in the Korean language. Sometimes even more than representatives of Russian-speaking Koreans. There is such a paradox.

What do you think, this mutual interest, the dialogue of cultures that is developing between Korea and Russia, on what foundation does it exist: history, mentality?

If we talk about mentality, then this is a serious, philosophical question. Just over the 150 years of Koreans living, the paradox became clear that the 5th-6th generation, which already lives here, actually absorbed the features of the Russian mentality. But they lost the Korean language. Their native language is Russian, which is rare for peoples living in Russia. In the 90s, when the doors were opened for former citizens of the USSR, numerous peoples who have a historical homeland outside of Russia: Germans, Jews, about 2 million Germans returned to Germany. The third largest ethnic group - Koreans, it turned out that only a few left. And when the question is why: it turned out that everything is suitable, except for the mentality. Because, in Korea, it is completely different and not familiar to Russian-speaking Koreans, who have already acquired Russian features.

Are economic ties active between our countries?

Three years ago, a strategic partnership between Russia and South Korea was proclaimed, which provided for the intensification of economic ties between our countries. But North Korea also took part there, because the main project is the opening of the Trans-Siberian Railway. It has reached the border of North Korea, it remains to resolve political issues, to agree, and then the economic picture may change. If Korea were united, then everything would be easier, of course. Dialogue is still difficult. Simply, if it is predictable from the side of South Korea, then from the side of North it is difficult to imagine. But everyone has expectations of a positive decision. At least, everyone has such a hope, and as for a specific expression, it is difficult to say. In the last period, North Korea has sent a "message" that it will initiate the negotiation process. What will it be expressed in? No one knows. There is such a trend.

How is the resettlement of Koreans in Russia?

The history is like this. 150 years ago - it was the seaside, then in 1937 forced resettlement in the regions of Central Asia. There were compact residences and successful ones. There was a whole big era in the economy: the creation of Korean collective farms. In the 1950s, about 250 people were awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor. This is the highest rank. This is the resettlement regime, it was already liberalized, and it was possible to freely choose a place of residence. And a large number of Koreans began to disperse. Young people began to receive higher education, tried to receive high-quality, in large centers. In Soviet times, “in terms of the share of higher education,” Koreans were in one of the first places. Now dispersed settlement. Those who deal with Korean issues, we do not know many. There is practically no large settlement where at least one family would not live. We know the layer that is noticeable.

Koreans love to work and love to study?

Yes, this is a national mental trait. In every Korean family, education is a priority. Therefore, it is no coincidence that there is a legend that the poorest family is trying to raise money, send the child to study so that he receives a higher education. Education is a step towards success.

What is the relationship between Koreans living in Russia. Is it constant communication, exchange?

It's more of a family connection. According to the latest census, there are 158 thousand Koreans, according to unofficial 200 thousand. Many come from the former republics of the USSR.

Yes, there are still connections between public Korean organizations. After the 90s, public Korean structures were created in all states of the former USSR. But the bulk of the population of half a million Koreans develop individually. They sometimes live independently. Unlike other nations, which have a pronounced diaspora, here the diaspora is more conditional.

Please tell me, besides Russia, where else in the world do Koreans live in large numbers?

Korea is one of many countries that belongs to the world nation. South Korea - 50 million, North Korea - 25 million, and 8 million live outside their historical homeland. The settlement is such that there is practically no such country where Koreans would not live. The largest are China and America. In the first place is China, there is even Korean autonomy there. America is a territory where Koreans can unleash their personal potential. There are many in Canada, in South America, in Europe. Watching Koreans, immigrants and citizens of those countries where they have taken root, there is such a feature: very quickly adapt to a new living environment, assimilate, accept the mentality.

Why is it so? Is this a kind of freedom tolerance of a Korean person?

The ability to adapt to the living conditions in which they find themselves. In 1937, the Koreans not only survived, but quickly succeeded.

Maybe because their own culture is not so dogmatic, dominant?

The country has been closed for many years. This, of course, formed a certain genotype, but it turned out that Koreans are prone to openness.

You spoke about Orthodoxy, which is interesting to Koreans. And what about Buddhism?

There is a Buddhist mission in Moscow, which was originally a mission from the Buddhist church in Korea. But it is registered as a Korean cultural and educational spiritual center. The Korean language is spreading there, they are also introduced to Buddhism. The way of thinking, outlook is Buddhism. There are people who are interested in this.

And for the Koreans themselves, what is popular?

Oddly enough, the most common religion is Christianity.

Koreans classify themselves as Buddhists by virtue of their origin, and the most common faith is the non-Orthodox branches of Christianity - Baptists, Presbyterians, Protestants. That is, the faith that the Americans brought 200 years ago has spread and strengthened. Now, among 40 percent of believers, it is precisely these directions that are popular in many respects, because once they were part of another culture, now they have become part of the Korean one.

Valentin, thank you very much for the conversation.

The people who are the main population of the two states of the Korean Peninsula: the Republic of Korea and the DPRK. They also live in many Asian states. The total number in all countries of the world exceeds 81 million people. Of these, the Republic of Korea accounts for the majority - about 50 million. 24 million people live in North Korea.

There are large diasporas of Koreans in other countries. Over a million Koreans live in China and the US. You can also meet them in Central Asia, Japan, Russia, Canada, Australia, and the Philippines. The language is Korean. Also, they can use the languages ​​of the countries of residence for communication. Most Koreans are adherents of atheism, not leaning towards any of the religions. However, there are supporters of Confucianism, Christianity, Buddhism, traditional animistic beliefs. Until the 14th century, the importance of Buddhism was greater than it is now.

Koreans are an ancient people. They go back to the proto-Altaic peoples, and the ethnogenesis was also influenced by the Paleo-Asians and the inhabitants of Austronesia. In the 1st millennium BC, Joseon, a near-state formation, arose. From him came the self-name of Koreans Joseon Saram. Later, already at the beginning of our era, the Han tribes influenced the Koreans.

Representatives of the people were traditionally engaged in arable farming. They grew rice (the basis of the entire diet of Koreans), corn, millet, beans, vegetables, melons. Cattle breeding was developed worse and was limited to the use of animals for auxiliary agricultural work. Sericulture has become widespread, in coastal areas - fishing and other marine crafts. Korean artisans became famous for their ceramic and lacquer products. At present, the transition from a traditional economy to a developed industry has been completed. Both the Republic of Korea and the DPRK managed to achieve a high level of development, only the first state - on a capitalist basis, and the second - on a communist one.

Rural residents retain elements of the national pre-industrial culture. The dwellings they build for themselves are still quite traditional. The houses are plastered with clay and rise on peculiar earthen foundations fifty centimeters high. Such housing is heated by means of a chimney laid under the floor. This method of heating is called ondol. Surprisingly, the Koreans have kept it even in modern cities, only partially modernizing it. For fun, we will inform you that more often than any other technology, in Korean homes you can see a very old version of the radio. It will not be difficult to buy a radio receiver - at any place in the bazaar. They differ only in design and manner of execution.

Among the villagers, men traditionally wore pants and a white wraparound jacket. Women wore short jogori blouses, loose-fitting pants and a matching skirt called chima. In winter, women wore padded robes. Shoes - straw sandals, in bad weather they wore high shoes made of wood. At home, they took off their shoes and walked barefoot. Now Koreans have massively switched to European-style clothing.

Seasoned rice is the basis of the Korean diet. The most popular meat is pork, less often dog meat is used. In general, Korean cuisine is characterized by an abundance of spices (garlic and pepper). The alcoholic drink is warm vodka made from rice.

For a long time, the Koreans kept the rudiments of tribal relations. It got to the point that all namesakes began to be considered relatives. This perception was influenced, among other things, by Confucianism and the cult of ancestors.