E2024-G155
Gwangju’s Goryeoin Community: Celebrating Culture
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 has a thriving community culture, with a wide variety of cultural groups, programs, events, and institutions which highlight the unique background and identity of its residents. Key cultural facilities in the neighborhood include the Wolgok Goryeoin Cultural Center, Gyeol, the Goryeoin Humanities and Society Research Center, the Viktor Moon Art Museum, and Theater 1937. There are also a number of community performance groups, including the Gwangju Goryeoin Village Children’s Choir, the Arirang Orchestra, and the Arirang Performance Troupe, a youth dance team. The community also hosts cultural events, such as the International Goryeoin Conference, which includes a cultural festival and international food tasting experience as part of its programming.
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