E2024-G153
Gwangju’s Goryeoin Community: Social Cooperation and Support
Narrative
Gwangju is home to one of the largest Goryeoin communities in Korea, along with Ansan in Gyeonggi-do Province. Goryeoin (or Koryo-saram) are ethnic Koreans who live in the post-Soviet states. They are descendants of Koreans living in the Russian Far East who were forced to move to Central Asia in 1937 under Stalin.
Around 7,000 Goryeoin live in Gwangju’s Goryeoin Village, located in the Wolgok-dong neighborhood of Gwangsan-gu District. The village is home to diverse venues that promote social cooperation and mutual support within the community. These include facilities such as the Goryeoin General Support Center, the Goryeoin Village Cooperative Association, and the Goryeoin Humanities and Society Research Center, as well as media such as the Goryeo Broadcast Service (GBS) and Nanum Broadcasting. Mutual support activities can also be seen in social spaces like the Wolgok Goryeoin Cultural Center, Gyeol, and Cafe Family, as well as religious spaces such as churches. These facilities serve as a testament to the unique economic, social, and cultural needs of diaspora communities in Korea, and the various ways in which community members come together to help one another.
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