Koreans

The Korean people are an ethnic group originating in East Asia. Most Koreans speak the Korean language.

Names

South Koreans call Koreans Han-guk-in (한국인; 韓國人)—or simply 한인/Han-in for South Koreans living abroad—or informally Hanguk saram (한국 사람; 韓國 사람), while North Koreans call Koreans Chosŏn-in (조선인; 朝鮮人) or Chosŏn saram (조선 사람; 朝鮮 사람). See Names of Korea, Korean romanization, Hangul (한글) and Hanja (한자).

Origins

Koreans are believed to be descendants of Altaic- or proto-Altaic-speaking tribes, linking them with Mongolians, Tungusics, and Turks. Archaeological evidence suggest proto-Koreans were Altaic-language-speaking migrants from south-central Siberia, who populated ancient Korea in successive waves from the Neolithic age to the Bronze Age.

Genetic studies

Studies so far of polymorphisms in the human Y-chromosome have produced evidence to suggest that the Korean people have a very long history as a distinct, mostly endogamous ethnic group with successive waves of people moving to the peninsula and three major Y-chromosome haplogroups.

Korean males display a very high frequency of a derived subclade of Manchurian origin, Haplogroup O2b1* (P49). In fact, Haplogroup O2b1* comes close to being the modal Y-chromosome haplogroup in Korea, occurring in approximately 35% of all Korean males.

There is moderate to high frequency of Haplogroup O3 and Haplogroup C3. Origin of Haplogroup O3 is thought to be diverse, some of them having expanded from Manchuria with Haplogroup O2b and some of them having expanded from southern China by people with rice agriculture such as the Hmongs. Haplogroup C3 is though to be the original inhabitants of the area related to the Nivkhs.

A population genetic study demonstrated DNA evidence of the origin of Koreans from the central Asian Mongolians, and the Koreans are more closely related to the Japanese and quite distant from the Chinese.

Regional differences

Distinct regional differences, culturally and politically, exist among the Koreans, as they do among other ethnicities.

Within South Korea, the most important regional difference is between the Gyeongsang region, embracing Gyeongsangbuk-do and Gyeongsangnam-do provinces in the southeast, and the Jeolla region, embracing Jeollabuk-do and Jeollanam-do provinces in the southwest. The two regions, separated by the Jiri Massif, nurture a rivalry said to reach back to the Three Kingdoms Period, which lasted from the fourth century to the seventh century A.D., when the kingdoms of Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla struggled for control of the peninsula.

Observers noted that interregional marriages are rare, and that as of 1990, a new four-lane highway completed in 1984 between Gwangju and Daegu, the capitals of Jeollanam-do and Gyeongsangbuk-do, was unsuccessful in promoting travel between the two areas.

South Korea's political elite, including presidents Park Chung-hee, Chun Doo-hwan, and Roh Tae-woo, have come largely from the Gyeongsang region. As a result, Gyeongsang has been a special beneficiary of government development assistance.

By contrast, historically the Jeolla region has remained comparatively rural and undeveloped. Regional social disturbances intensified in the May 1980 Gwangju massacre, in which about 200 and perhaps many more College students of the capital of Jeollanam-do were killed by Chun Doo-hwan's troops who were sent to quell demonstrations of students against the government and the military regime. The demonstrations against the military regime occurred all over the country, but only Gwangju was heavily damaged. Many of the troops who put down the demonstrations were reportedly from the rival Gyeongsang region.

Regional stereotypes, like regional dialects, have been breaking down under the influence of centralized education, nationwide media, and the several decades of population movement since the Korean War. Stereotypes remain important, however, in the eyes of many South Koreans. For example, the people of Gyeonggi-do, surrounding Seoul, are often described as being cultured, and Chungcheong people, inhabiting the region embracing Chungcheongbuk-do and Chungcheongnam-do provinces, are thought to be mild-mannered, manifesting true yangban virtues. The people of Gangwon-do in the northeast were viewed as farmers in a rural, countryside area, while Koreans from the northern provinces of Pyongan, Hwanghae, and Hamgyong, now in North Korea, are perceived as being diligent and aggressive. Jeju-do is known for its strong-minded and independent women.

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