Chinatown

In every major city such as New York, Paris and London, Chinatown lies in the bustling regions of the cities. Chinatown with its offering of world-recognized offering of Chinese food plays a role in attracting great number of tourists to the country. In the Southeast Asian region, the combined economic resource of the Chinese compatriots holds substantive economic power. Of the 1,000 top Asian companies, more than half are run by these Chinese with non-Chinese citizenship. The combined economic holdings of the Chinese compatriots in such countries as Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines account for 50% to 80% of the companies listed on the respective stock exchanges. Of the various Asian countries, only two, Korea and Japan, are where the Chinese compatriots have been unable to account for so much economic influence.

The Chinese who came to Korea during the end of the 19th Century, driven by the emigration policy of the then Chung Dynasty, came mostly from the Shandong area of China. Most of them opened Chinese restaurants selling ja-jahng-myun (a type of noodle in black bean paste sauce). During the hard economic times of Korea in the past, eating ja-jang-myun at a Chinese restaurant was a wonderful treat. The sight and smell of the noodles bathed in dark sauce with pieces of onions are etched in the minds of most elderly Koreans. The Chinese restaurants and Chinatowns in Seoul and Inchon, which had flourished, began to fade in the 70's.

Korea is without an equal in terms of racial discrimination of the Chinese. While taking tax on every won they earn, they have no right to become Korean citizens no matter how long they live in Korea. Whenever the Korean criticized the discrimination by the Japanese against the Korean living in Japan, the Chinese in Korea were dumbfounded. When many of the Chinese in Korea escape from the discrimination to the U.S. or Canada, they can easily meet fluent Korean-speaking owners of Chinese restaurants. The Chinatown in North Pukchang area was designated as an area for new development in the early 70's, and soon the Chinatown on the whole disappeared. In this age of globalization, lacking a single "Chinatown" while sharing a border with China, clearly exemplifies the exclusionary mentality.

Although the supposed redevelopment of the Pukchang are had merit, the real reason was that some people were not happy to have Chinatown smack in the middle of Seoul. The Chinese were driven from the North Pukchang area to the Yonhui area of Seoul. At the time, the Yonhui area did not have paved streets and could not live without boots whenever it rained. With the recent change in the laws allowing foreign citizens to purchase and own properties, many of the Chinese have been buying up parts of Yonhui area and have begun to turn it into Chinatown. A new Chinatown is building where the Chinese had been driven to in tears.

Hwang Ho-Taeck hthwang@donga.com