Koreans in Iran
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 405 (2011) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Tehran, Asaluyeh | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity · Buddhism · Other | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Korean diaspora |
Koreans in Iran have a history dating back to the 1970s, when South Korean labour migrants began flowing into the country. However, most returned home or moved on to other countries; as of 2011[update], only 405 Koreans lived in the country, according to the statistics of South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
South Korean migration to Iran grew at an average annual rate of 90% between 1971 and 1977, although the total number of migrants from Korea grew only by an annual average of 18% during that same period; South Koreans departing their home country for Iran composed just 0.2% of all officially-registered emigrants in 1971 (roughly 150 individuals), and only 177 individuals in 1974, but 1.8% (2,402 individuals) in 1975 and 3.4% (6,264 individuals) in 1977. The vast majority were male.Hyundai Construction's first project in the entire Middle East was a 1975 contract for the construction of a shipyard for the Iranian Navy near Bandar-e Abbas, and they and other chaebol quickly expanded their business in the region. Between 1977 and 1979, nearly 300,000 South Korean workers from two dozen companies came to work in the Middle East. The largest proportion of those went to Saudi Arabia, though Iran was also a major destination; at one point, migration to Iran made up 17% of all migration to the region. In total, in the decade following 1975, 25,388 South Koreans went to Iran.
The 1979 Iranian Revolution would have a negative effect on South Korean business in Iran, as well as proving dangerous for Korean workers in the country; on one occasion, revolutionaries attacked a construction site seeking to drive away "foreign devils"; five workers were killed and twenty others injured in a traffic accident that arose as they fled. The Korean Air Force had to be called in to evacuate Korean nationals. The number of South Koreans going to Iran fell from 7,418 in 1978 to 64 in 1979 and only 30 in 1980, though by 1985 the rate of migration had recovered to almost half of its pre-revolutionary level, with 3,669 migrants. However, due to the economic effects of the revolution and the Iran–Iraq War, as well as South Korea's rising labour costs, the practise of importing labourers from South Korea to work in the Middle East slowly became less widespread during the late 1980s; for example, the proportion of Korean labourers working on construction projects for Hyundai declined from 70% to only 20-30%, with the shortfall being taken up by local labourers instead.
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