Koreans in Micronesia
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 7,512 (2013) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Guam
|
5,016 |
 Northern Marianas
|
2,281 |
 Palau
|
122 |
 F. S. of Micronesia
|
47 |
 Marshall Islands
|
45 |
 Kiribati
|
1 |
| Languages | |
| Korean, Japanese | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Korean diaspora | |
Koreans in Micronesia used to form a significant population before World War II, when most of the region was ruled as the South Pacific Mandate of the Empire of Japan; for example, they formed 7.3% of the population of Palau in 1943. However, after the area came under the control of the United States as the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, most Koreans returned to their homeland. As of 2013[update], about seven thousand South Korean expatriates & immigrants and Korean Americans reside in Guam and the Northern Marianas, which have remained under U.S. control, while only around two hundred South Korean expatriates reside in the independent countries of Micronesia.
The earliest known Koreans in Palau are believed to be 10 comfort women who arrived in 1936. As the demand for labour increased sharply with the onset of war, Japanese authorities turned to the Korean peninsula as a source of cheap workers. The first Korean labourers came in January 1939, a group of 500; they were employed by Hōnan Sangyō K.K. (豊南産業株式会社) in cassava processing. From then until February 1940, 13 further shipments totalling 1,266 Korean workers arrived in Palau.
A 1943 census showed Palau's total Korean population at 2,458, or 7.3% of the population at the time; they were only one-tenth the size of the Japanese population. 864 lived on Babeldaob, another 721 were housed at the naval base on Malakal Island, 539 lived at Angaur, and the remaining 334 were scattered throughout other locations.Roman Tmetuchl, a Palauan recruited to work for the Kempeitai, recalled in an interview some years later that the Japanese discriminated against the Koreans even more heavily than they did against the Palauans.
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Wikipedia