Korean Brazilians
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 48,419 (2009) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Foz do Iguaçu and São Paulo City | |
| Languages | |
| Portuguese and Korean | |
| Religion | |
| Protestantism, Catholicism, Buddhism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Other Korean and Brazilian people, Korean Americans and other Asian Brazilians |
Korean Brazilians (Portuguese: Coreano-brasileiro) are Brazilians of full, partial, or predominantly Korean ancestry, or a Korean-born person residing in Brazil. The Korean population in Brazil, the largest in Latin America, is about 50,000.
Korean immigration to South America began on a small scale in the mid-1950s but was only formalized in 1962, when, to encourage emigration to control population, reduce unemployment, and garner foreign exchange via immigrant remittances, the South Korean government passed its Overseas Emigration Law. In December 1962, the South Korean Ministry of Public Health and Social Affairs, to which the emigration section was attached, sent 92 people (members of seventeen families) to Brazil. Although the South Korean government's desire to direct emigrants to the Southern Hemisphere was based on the size of the Brazilian economy, many Koreans were hindered by the Brazilian government's demand that all visas, including those for tourists, be preapproved.
There has been a large flow of undocumented Korean migrants from Paraguay to Brazil. In 1992, the South Korean embassy in Brazil extrapolated a population of about 40,000, based on families registered at its various consulates in Brazil. This sample may be underrepresenting the numbers significantly, since both documented and especially undocumented immigrants may choose not to register with South Korean diplomatic missions in Brazil. Unofficial estimates put the Korean population of Brazil at between two and three times that of the embassy. The overwhelming majority (90 percent) of Korean immigrants live in São Paulo, where they have created some 2,500 small businesses, most of which are home businesses produce textiles and clothing. Koreans are believed to control two-thirds of the clothing retail business, and their materials travel all over Brazil. Some Koreans also work in the field of electronic engineering and in the export-import trade. In São Paulo, the majority of Koreans live either in Liberdade neighborhood, the traditional Japanese neighborhood; in Bom Retiro, a traditional immigrant neighborhood most recently populated by East European Jews and the Lebanese; in Brás, the former Italian neighborhood, and in the upper-middle-class neighborhood of Aclimação where 30% of the area's resident population is made up of Korean or of Korean origin. The Praça General Polidoro square in Aclimação is surrounded by Korean restaurants, churches and other businesses.
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