Russia is |
Peoples of Russia
Koreans
Their self-designations – Choson Saram, Hanguk Saram, Kore Saram – are very rarely encountered in Russia. Almost all call themselves Koreans. They are the majority of the population of the Korean peninsula. They also live in China, Japan, in the USA, in Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan.
Language
They speak the Korean language. For a long time this language was believed to be isolated. Today the linguists believe that out of the currently living languages the Korean language is the closest to the Japanese Ryukyuan languages. The writing system is the Korean phonetic letter-syllable writing that dates back to the 15th century. South Korea also uses Chinese characters (Hanja). The use of the Russian language is common among the Koreans of Russia.
Society
The Koreans have rerlatively few last names; the last names Kim, Pak, Li is the ones most often encountered. Despite the bearers of the same last name most usually originating from the same region of Korea, the ancient kinship ties did not survive. In recent times, the nuclear family with few children became widespread, especially in the cities. In the countryside at times large families with many children still exist. Mixed (mostly Korean-Russian) marriages are popular.
Dwellings
The traditional house is a clay-walled house on a wooden frame covered with bricks. The bricks are tied to the frame with straw bands. Outside the whole structure is coated with clay. The facade is without windows. The opening of the funnel and the door of the oven lead into the outside wall. The funnel is laid out under the floor; the heated floor is used for sleeping.
Food
Koreans have many fish and pork dishes. They also use almost no animal fats and actively use garlic and hot pepper. A characteristic of the Russian Korean cuisine is the use of coriander. In Russia, Korean salads are very popular (“Korean carrots”, etc.)
Occupations
Koreans are representatives of an ancient farming culture. In the south of the Korean peninsula, they mostly grew rice, in the north, rice, millet, foxtail millet, rye, wheat, barley. In mountain regions, they grew corn. The Russian Koreans from Northern Caucasus grow melons and garden crops.
