Kkangpae

A kkangpae, translated literally, is a gangster or hoodlum in Korean. Gangs primarily operate in bigger cities like Seoul and Busan, though they can be found all across the country as well as other areas of Asia like Japan, China, and Thailand. The South Korean mafia is well known for its ruthless extortion and loan sharking tactics. Since the early 2000s, the South Korean entertainment industry has regularly popularized the South Korean mafia, through films and television.

Kkangpae literally translates to "Thug" in the Korean language, and usually refers to unorganized street gangs. The South Korean mafia is referred to in South Korea as the Geondal (Korean: 건달), or Jopok (Korean: 조폭; Hanja: 組暴), which usually refers to mafiosos and organized crime.

Historians believe that the rise of the Korean mafia started back in the 19th century, in the fading days of the Joseon Dynasty. With the rise of commerce and the emergence of investment from European colonial powers, pre-existing street gangs, often consisting of lower class muscle and operated by wealthy merchants, gained influence. The modern history of Korean criminal organizations divides into four periods—the "Romantic Period" during the Colonial era, political mobs of the late 1950s and early 1960s under Syngman Rhee, the "Civil War period" under the military rule of Park Chung Hee and Chun Doo Hwan, and the present.

During the 35 years of Korea under Imperial Japanese rule, some Koreans were subjected to forced labor and sex slavery. This intensified during World War II when the Empire of Japan spread its empire throughout Manchuria, and parts of China. Koreans fled to mainland Japan and formed mobs to overcome discrimination and crime. The most infamous "mobster" during this period was Kim Doo Han, the son of a famous Korean independence fighter and insurgent leader Kim Jwa-jin, a freedom fighter against Colonial rule. After his father and mother were killed, he grew up as a beggar and hung out with a local gang, named Jumok (fist). He rose through the ranks and became infamous for fighting groups against the yakuza.

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