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A photographer documents the Koreans of Kazakhstan’s dying dialect a mixture of Russian and an old Korean dialect that predates the peninsula’s partition Kim documented those who can still speak it as well as their children and grandchildren Roads & Kingdoms: You discovered this story through language Michael Vince Kim: I was studying linguistics at Edinburgh University and I was starting to look for topics that I could research for my dissertation Language is something I’ve always been curious about because I was born in the US my parents are from South Korea but I grew up in Argentina The issue of language and identity was always central in my life So I started researching different varieties of Korean and I came across this dialect called Koryo-mar I thought it was really particular because it was a dialect spoken by Koreans living in Central Asia and I didn’t even know there were Koreans there in the first place Kim: It turns out that they had migrated from the northern part of the Korean peninsula to the Russian Far East especially around the city of Vladivostock They lived there from the 1860s until 1937 when they were deported to Central Asia by Stalin because of ongoing conflicts with Japan It was created in the 1950s when the country was divided So this community just spoke a dialect from the very northern part of what is now North Korea It survived through this community that moved to Russia and it got mixed with Russian Now when you talk to people who speak Koryo-mar you can hear traces of a dialect that does not exist in Korea anymore or barely exists because standard languages absorb all dialects At the same time you also see how the evolution of language works when it mixes with another language So I started researching this subject and I thought I had to go there because this language was dying very quickly which is the ex-capital and the biggest city in Kazakhstan I was trying to look for contacts because I went there without knowing anyone and I found that there were lots of Korean organizations but most of the Korean people there didn’t speak Koryo-mar They had fully adopted Russian as they first language which is composed of ethnic Koreans who perform plays about Korean themes which is a small town where I knew I would find older people who spoke Koryo-mar I knew someone who was from that town and she found me this dodgy hostel that didn’t even have a front door She told me about a church founded by a South Korean woman from the US so I went there and I noticed there were missionaries staying in the church so I asked if I could stay for a couple of weeks while doing my research and luckily they accepted R&K: What was the church’s relation with the Korean-Kazakh community Kim: The woman who founded it was from South Korea but everyone else was from the Kazakh Korean community There are South Koreans in Central Asia but my project wasn’t about them They’re migrants who came much more recently The Korean-Kazakhs have a very different culture after over 100 years of being apart from Korea I can relate to that because I grew up in Argentina and I went to South Korea a couple of times and I feel like a foreigner there R&K: So tell me about the Korean-Kazakhs Kim: Usually I would ask them first if they spoke Korean If they were people who had survived deportation they would generally remember some Koryo-mar and South Koreans have a hard time understanding it because when languages start deteriorating grammatical aspects of the language start changing When that happens native speakers of a language have a hard time understanding semi-speakers we would try to speak in it so I could document it They filled in the rest in Russian through my translator who turned out to be a South Korean student of Russian language who was volunteering at the church What was curious was that they understood my Korean semi-speakers tend to show the same patterns of grammatical decay so really we both shared the same broken Korean And they related with me more than with South Koreans because we had mixed cultures R&K: Do they actually still speak Koryo-mar amongst each other Kim: Almost no one speaks the dialect anymore but they have a hard time trying to construct new phrases I would speak in Russian through my translator They would only have a passive knowledge of the dialect but interestingly some of them study standard Korean Actually a lot of Koreans from Kazakhstan have moved to South Korea It makes no sense to study the old dialect and in fact there’s no way of studying it anymore Did all the Koreans living in the USSR get sent to Kazakhstan the deportations involved not only Koreans but people from all ethnic minorities They were deported with very short notice and sometimes no notice at all The Koreans who had power or who were higher up in politics or in society a lot of them were actually assassinated because the Soviet government feared some kind of rebellion or an opposition R&K: But interestingly they were welcomed by the locals Kim: Koreans were deported to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan I actually just came back from Uzbekistan two months ago where I was continuing the project they felt very welcomed by the local people There were nothing but good stories being told the Koreans had been promised building materials They didn’t have anything to make houses so a lot of Koreans were welcomed into Kazakh families and in exchange they taught them about agriculture because Kazakhs were traditionally nomadic people who lived mostly on a meat diet and Koreans were the opposite R&K: So that would explain why a lot of them ended up staying there I asked people: if you had the chance to go to Korea or elsewhere because they said Kazakhstan is their home R&K: They actually left Korea before it was divided into two countries Maybe they feel like they don’t belong there anymore You can imagine that their sense of identity is extremely complex because it’s not only the fact that they are in a different country but also that the country they’re from has been divided They can’t really go back to North Korea which isn’t where they’re from before the fall of the USSR some did go to North Korea I met people who had gone in the 80s to participate in the ceremony of Kim Il Sung’s birthday for example R&K: How much do South Koreans know about this community The Central Asian Korean community is actually very big I think it’s 100,000 Koreans in Kazakhstan and maybe 170,000 in Uzbekistan and 170,000 in Russia And a lot of people in South Korea aren’t aware of it I can relate to that because in Argentina there’s about 22,000 Koreans and when I talk to South Koreans I feel like it could be mentioned more in history books That’s something that I would like to contribute to R&K: The history of Central Asia’s Korean community Korean migration happened mostly after the Cold War during the 60s so most of the people who immigrated spoke standard Korean What makes this community so unique is that it arrived before Korea was divided The Koryo-mar dialect became completely isolated and evolved in its own timeline I just came back from Uzbekistan and I’m thinking of going back to Central Asia and making the journey they made from the Russian Far East to Central Asia by train I’m planning to go to Vladivostok to see what remains of Korean culture there and what the Korean community looks like right now And I also want to go to South Korea to document the Central Asian Korean community that has gone back R&K: What do you think we can learn from knowing more about this history Kim: Working on this story was a bit like seeing what will become of the Korean diaspora across the world in future generations their cultural evolution is at the furthest stage so it’s very interesting to see to what extent cultures can mix and evolve I thought I knew a lot about Korean culture Cover image: An ethnic Korean woman with Russian and Korean food in a restaurant in Eskeldy-bi This town was previously known as Dalniy Vostok (Russian for “far east”) and was of one of the first Korean collective farms in Kazakhstan Join our newsletter to get exclusives on where our correspondents travel A feast in a remote village in Kyrgyzstan tells a story of centuries of exile and migration Getting inside the mind of an emerging African dictator is as simple as taking an elevator Countries on the fuzzy edge between two continents are grappling with what it means to be in Europe or Asia today an unlikely evangelist for the most Burmese of pastimes: chinlone Now their culture is in danger of vanishing Czarist Russia opened up the virtually uninhabitated Far East for settlement welcoming waves of destitue farmers from the neighboring northern Korean peninsula The group quietly flourished while their homeland was suffering from ongoing aggressions from Japan Stalin became wary of Koreans spying for Japan and ordered their deportation from the Far East to Soviet Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan where they were expected to start collective farms tens of thousands of Koreans were told to pack their belongings and depart on windowless cattle trains The over 4,000-mile journey during Siberia’s harsh winter was bone-shattering The exiles soon found out that promised building materials and cash assistance would never arrive they also had difficulties adapting to Central Asia’s arid landscapes and nomadic culture a neighbourhood where many Koreans live today.Photograph by Michael Vince Kim“All the people I have met who survived the deportation told me that they had no idea they were being deported or why,” says Michael Vince Kim who has been photographing the Korean diaspora in Central Asia since 2014 “Some starved to death; there were train accidents; some just passed away due to illness.” came across the unique dialect of Koryo-mar spoken by Soviet Koreans while researching his dissertation The dialect is a curious blend of Russian and a distinct Korean dialect from the northeast that dates all the way back to the 10th century “It is like a dialect that got frozen in time,” Kim explains decades of forced assimilation led to the adoption of Russian as the first language of most Koreans in Central Asia both North Korea and South Korea went through the process of standardizing their languages All the people I have met who survived the deportation told me that they had no idea they were being deported or why.Michael Vince KimSung-ok Tigay was deported from Vladivostok at the age of 13 and she lost her parents soon after developing a close relationship that is still appreciated today.Photograph by Michael Vince KimA Korean deportee and her son in Ushtobe Kazakhstan.Photograph by Michael Vince KimDescendents of Koryo-mar speakers mostly interacted with North Koreans before the 1990’s But following the collapse of the Soviet Union South Korean pop culture’s swift and sweeping success presented the country with new opportunities in Central Asia Korean language schools there are mostly taught by South Koreans Koryo-mar will soon vanish with the old generation “Learning this modern dialect is killing their own dialect,” Kim says But the linguist-turned photographer is not too concerned about Koryo-mar’s irreversible fate Kim hopes his photos will help document the dying dialect and its untold history grew up in Argentina and speaks broken Korean “I was told in Kazakhstan and in Uzbekistan by several people that they understood me much better than South Koreans who went there,” he says “My purpose is absolutely not to look at the past in a romantic way but to show the world how things evolve and how circumstances change culture,” Kim says “I would not like a culture to be preserved like something that lives in a museum.” The portraits Kim created of the Korean diaspora poetically capture a sentiment he and his subjects share — a lingering sense of identity In 2010 Dave Cook, a food writer with a talent for highlighting lesser known cuisine, endorsed a mom-and-pop cafe just off Brooklyn’s Brighton Beach boardwalk in the New York Times which is known interchangeably as Eddie Fancy Food he gave most Americans their first look at a unique fusion cuisine: Korean-Russian-Central Asian or Brooklyn’s other Koryo Saram eatery Yet Koryo Saram food is not like other Korean fusions that have caught the public eye Mixes like Korean-Mexican food are often the result of serendipitous encounters between American immigrant communities and intentional experimentation by chefs is in many ways the creation of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin a product of a massive and brutal ethnic cleansing campaign until they outnumbered imperial settlers in some areas Russian Czars initially welcomed the Koreans as part of efforts to tame their new territory and rugged and remote corner of the Russian Far East As regional historian Dae-Sook Suh has documented Russian rulers grew increasingly racist and nervous attempting to shut the border with Hamgyong and offering citizenship and land only to Korean settlers who agreed to embrace Russian culture and the Orthodox Christian faith “In kindergarten in the Soviet times,” says German Kim saw themselves as distinct from their peninsular kin Still, Hamgyong culture and food maintained strong footholds in the region: Koreans in urban centers lived primarily in ethnic enclaves, while farmers rarely encountered Russian culture. Immigration from Hamgyong continued too, especially after Japan seized the Korean peninsula in 1905 only half of all Koreans in the area were meaningfully assimilated “The Koreans were a strong social group who maintained their language and culture during the first generations in the Russian Far East,” says Michael Vince Kim an Argentine-Korean photographer who has documented Koryo Saram communities “They had founded cultural establishments They forcibly relocated some 95,000 to Kazakhstan and 76,000 to Uzbekistan This was not the first time the Soviet Union engaged in ethnic cleansing officials moved at least 7,000 Finns out of the Leningrad region they relocated 20,000 Finns and almost 36,000 Poles and Ukrainians But the Korean cleansing was the largest prelude to a wave of forced deportations throughout the 1940s from their homes to often remote parts of Central Asia and Siberia Historians still debate the logic and logistics of these cleansings which were justified officially by notions that entire ethnic groups were disloyal scholars such as Chang have convincingly argued that the purge was an extension of longstanding anti-Asian racism—an insistence on seeing a loyal frontier group as a scheming families like his collected snow for meltwater and traded belongings in towns they passed for survival rations At least 72,000 Koreans died on the month-long recounted losing her father to the Soviet roundups who were relocated some 500 miles away in Kazakhstan Suh’s research on these communes showed But especially in the early years, conditions in these communities were harsh and the environment was foreign. An Uzbek-Korean survivor told Chang that they ate whatever they could, including birds, dogs, and rabbits. Nikolay Ten recounted food shortages into the 1950s, which forced his mother to bake grass bread to survive After some initial caution, Chang notes, locals developed ties with the Koreans Aside from the rice and other staple crops they grew on their farms this new local diet lacked many Hamgyong standards The Soviet Union also made efforts to eliminate Korean cultural institutions and impose Russian language While all the USSR’s forcibly deported peoples faced similar cultural pressures Soviet Korean culture and food witnessed perhaps the most dramatic transformations and their food and culture was especially distinct from their area of exile And while most exiled populations were resettled to their home territories in 1957 didn’t get to go back to the Far East having lived in that region for a few decades at most didn’t feel like they had a home to return to “Other peoples were all dreaming of going back to native places customs,” he says of groups who remained in exile post-Stalin “The Koryo Saram had no dream.” they decided to integrate into Central Asian-Soviet society to the point that few today even speak it as a heritage tongue “began to eat Russian bread and drink Russian vodka.” the deportees had developed a distinctive culture and started and a radically different environment produced major culinary shifts that worked heritage flavors into primarily Central Asian or Russian dishes and used steppe flavors and cooking techniques in the Korean soups and other sides that could still be readily made in the region Not every family experienced the same level of blend; Michael Vince Kim notes that he’s met at least one Koryo Saram woman in her 90s who still primarily cooks recognizably Korean food combined with the fact that the rural Hamgyong cuisine was already distinct these influences have led to a complete break with Korea “The first time I came to South Korea,” says German Kim “I couldn’t recognize a lot of their cuisine There are many things in South Korea I still cannot eat The Koryo Saram story is hardly unique in human history are defined by the forced movements and cultural deconstruction of African slaves or Native American tribes The freshness of the Koryo Saram’s trauma and the centrality of it to any review of a cafe like Brooklyn’s Y Tëщи serves as a reminder of the importance of looking for and recognizing the pain that forged other in order to better appreciate them and honor the achievements of their often anonymous pioneers We depend on ad revenue to craft and curate stories about the world’s hidden wonders Consider supporting our work by becoming a member for as little as $5 a month Follow us on Twitter to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders Like us on Facebook to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders All Headlines North Korea Sports Top News Most Viewed Korean Newspaper Headlines Today in Korean History Yonhap News Summary Editorials from Korean Dailies lead; UPDATES with reports of Moon's meeting with Korean residents in Almaty April 21 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Sunday promised additional support for South Korean businesses and residents as well as the country that he said embraced thousands of Koreans forced to move here under the former Soviet Union it was Kazakhstan's Ushtobe where the train carrying Koryoins first arrived Even though it was not long after the country suffered a great famine the people of Kazakhstan gladly offered their hands to help," Moon said in a meeting with some 300 Korean residents here including the offspring of those forced to relocate here more than 80 years ago South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his wife pose for a photo after receiving welcome flowers in a meeting held in Almaty with some 300 South Korean residents and ethnic Koreans in Kazakhstan Moon began his three-day state visit to Kazakhstan on the day and was set to head for Nur-Sultan later in the day "There are limitless possibilities for cooperation between South Korea and Kazakhstan The countries' governments will continue to strengthen their strategic partnership," he told the meeting adding he will hold a summit with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Monday Moon's meeting with the Korean residents came shortly after he arrived here on a three-day state visit He is later set to head to the country's capital of Nur-Sultan Those present at the meeting included the descendants of two late independence fighters who fought against Japan's colonial rule of Korea (1910-45) while in exile They were also among the first settlers who were forced to move here under the former Soviet Union Moon was later set to attend a ceremony in Nur-Sultan to send off the remains of the two late independence fighters back to their motherland He expressed his gratitude to the Kazakh government for allowing the return of their remains to South Korea "For us to remember and pay our respects to independence fighters is to let our future generations know their roots It is also a way to expand the road of exchange between Kazakhstan and South Korea," the president said Moon noted cooperation between the two countries has steadily increased since they established diplomatic ties in 1992 Bilateral trade between the countries came to US$2.2 billion last year making Kazakhstan the largest trading partner of South Korea in Central Asia with the number of visitors between the countries reaching a record high of nearly 90,000 "(South Korea) will continue its efforts for the development of not only the two countries but the entire Eurasia," Moon said "Because that is the way to repay the efforts of our compatriots South Korean President Moon Jae-in waves after arriving in Almaty with first lady Kim Jung-sook as part of his three-day state visit to Kazakhstan that will later take him to the country's capital Nur-Sultan Moon's arrival here followed his four-day state visit to Uzbekistan that included a trip to the country's historic city of Samarkand The South Korean president is on a three-nation tour that has also taken him to Turkmenistan His eight-day tour will end Tuesday when he will wrap up his state visit to Kazakhstan All News National Economy/Finance Biz Culture/K-pop Images Videos Korean Newspaper Headlines Korea in Brief Useful Links Weather Advertise with Yonhap News Agency Igor Sergeevich Son was born on November 16 master of sports of international class of the Republic of Kazakhstan silver medalist of the 2019 World Weightlifting Championship in the weight category up to 55 kg bronze medalist at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo in the weight category up to 61 kg In 2013 he took part in his first major international tournament - the World Youth Championship He took the final 13th place in the category up to 50 kg he became the winner in the weight category up to 50 kg Igor Son at his first adult world championship in Pattaya in the weight category up to 55 kg won a silver medal in the combined combined event with a result of 266 kg at the International Unity Weightlifting Championship in Tashkent Igor Son won a gold medal in the up to 61 kg weight category 2021 in Tokyo at the 2020 Summer Olympics in the weight category up to 61 kg I.Son lifted 294 (131 + 163) kg in total in the double event and took third place Bronze medalist of the Tokyo Olympiad Igor Son is a 1st year student of the medical faculty of KazNU named after Al-Farabi after heavy Olympic loads he is recuperating Igor agreed to a mini-interview for the Kazakh University newspaper The conversation took place over the phone The native university is waiting for its Olympian I am going to Nursultan for a meeting with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev he said that after the Olympiad was closed all participants would be gathered at KazNU 11 athletes from KazNU participated in the Olympiad we will all gather at the university at the same time These clean and jerk approaches were very important It turns out that I have a competitive record here - Why didn't you count the second approach in the snatch the most important thing is that my coach is satisfied The Olympics are not a simple competition; the strongest best athletes in the world participate here - A big deal has been done - the load is off your shoulders .. You understand that there are a lot of people who want to talk every day dozens of calls from journalists come in and different meetings take up a lot of time will we go to the next Olympics in Paris for gold in 4 years - I don’t know if I will prepare for the next Olympiad or not DKNews International News Agency is registered with the Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Kazakhstan