The Republic of Korea is home to approximately 50 million people. Various sources indicate that Koreans make up between 99% and 99,9% (!) of the population. Such homogeneity is unprecedented for countries with a large population and developed economy. Travel guides generally fail to mention the ethnic composition of the population.

According to unconfirmed estimates, the largest diaspora is considered to be the Chinese (around 100 people), and the next largest "non-Koreans" in the country are American military personnel (28). Foreign businessmen currently form a fairly large segment of the population, and due to Korea's rapid economic development, their number is growing, as well as students studying in Korea. In the 50s, many missionaries came to Korea, some of whom remained here permanently. On Jeju Island , we had a Russian guide—a young, charming Marina from Vladivostok. She told us about a former missionary, Irish, I believe, who now owns a stud farm on the island. According to her, four or six other Russians live permanently on Jeju Island.

The Russian presence in Korea began in the 1860s, when the first Russian mission opened. Until the Japanese occupation, the Russian community was quite large and played a significant role in Korea's social and political life. The second "Russian wave" was associated with the White emigration. About fifteen thousand refugees arrived at the port of Wonsan, closest to Vladivostok; half immediately went to China, but the other half remained in Korea for a while. By the 20s, the Russian community in Seoul numbered only 100-200 people, but it consisted primarily of educated and well-off people (some goods had managed to escape "Red" Russia), making its presence in Seoul noticeable.

For example, a famous hair salon belonged to the daughter of the last Tashkent governor-general, and her husband, Sergei Chirkin, a former diplomat specializing in Arabic studies, taught at Seoul Imperial University. Seoul at that time boasted a Russian pastry shop, a Russian candy store, and even a Russian perfumery. And in the northeast of the country, there was the Russian resort of Novina, whose owners and founders were the descendants of a Polish nobleman exiled to Siberia in the second half of the 19th century.

In 1925, after the establishment of diplomatic relations between Soviet Russia and Japan, a "Red" Russian community emerged in Seoul. Until 1945, a veritable ideological "civil war" raged between the "Red" and "White" communities. In 1946, the Americans expelled the "Red" Russian community for supporting the leftist opposition, while the "White" community somehow dissipated, the last of which fled the country during the Korean War.

The situation began to change noticeably after the collapse of the USSR. Numerous cultural and economic programs attracted "Soviet" Koreans to Korea. Trade relations between the former Soviet republics and South Korea began to develop, both at the interstate level and through various levels of private enterprise. Naturally, the latter developed most actively in areas where the largest number of Koreans had lived during the Soviet era. Consequently, immigrants from Central Asian republics, as well as Russians from Primorsky Krai, began to settle in Seoul. They all shared the Russian language, so after the 1980s, a fairly multinational Russian-speaking community began to form in Seoul, and a Russian newspaper, "Seoul Herald," even began to be published.

Our guide in the Republic of Korea (excluding Jeju Island) was Olga Min, a native of Tashkent. Petite but courageous, Olga has adapted well to Korea in four years. She graduated from the University of Tashkent, majoring in English philology. In Seoul, she first studied at the renowned Yonsei University Korean Language Institute, and is now studying at the equally renowned Ewha University. Ewha University is the largest women's university in the world, founded in 1886 by American Methodist missionary Mary F. Scranton. Many famous Korean women have graduated from this university. The university promotes multiculturalism, fostering open, flexible thinking, and broad-mindedness, so essential in our age of globalization.

Now, in addition to helping tourists from Russia (her work is hardly just a job, she was so selflessly attentive to us during our trip), Olga works as a journalist for an English-language magazine. With her kind permission, we are publishing several of her articles on this website. We had to translate them from English into Russian, and I hope Olga will forgive us for any inaccuracies.