E2024-G154
Gwangju’s Goryeoin Community: Youth Education
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 a wide range of facilities and programs to support its children and young adults, who grow up in Korea with a unique multicultural identity and multilinguistic cultural experience. These include community facilities such as a day care center, local children’s center, and youth culture center. There are also special school which provide Korean language and culture education, such as the Gwangju Hangeul School and Saenal School. The village also has a Supsok Small Library, which offers a variety of children’s activity programs, such as arts, crafts, games, and writing, in addition to its selection of children’s books. There is also a community children’s choir, as well as a youth dance team, the Arirang Performance Troupe, which serves as a venue for musical expression and community building. These facilities and programs help children adapt to Korean society while also celebrating their unique cultural identity and background.
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