Korean Cubans ( es, Coreano Cubanos, ko, 한국계 쿠바인, ''Hangukgye kubain'') are citizens of

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

n ancestry. Most of them are descendants of Korean immigrant farmers from Mexico who left to Cuba in search of a better life. Today about 800 descendants of the Korean farmers live around

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

, Matanzas and other areas of Cuba.

History of migration

The first ethnic Koreans to arrive in Cuba came from

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Yucatán Peninsula The Yucatán Peninsula (, also , ; es, Península de Yucatán ) is a large peninsula in southeastern Mexico and adjacent portions of Belize and Guatemala. The peninsula extends towards the northeast, separating the Gulf of Mexico to the north ...

in search of a better life. In 1905, 1,033 Koreans set sail on a cargo ship from Incheon to Yucatán. Upon arrival, instead of the riches they had promised, all they found was the most menial type of labor. They were sold to 22 landlords and became sugarcane and hemp (henequen) cutters, toiling from sun-up till sundown in the dry and harsh tropical sun. Most of them settled there as field hands. On 25 May 1921, three hundred of them immigrated to Cuba from Mexico, hoping for better living conditions, but found them just as lamentable The Koreans' arrival coincided with a generally favorable economy in Cuba mostly due to sugar but soon sugar prices dropped drastically and there was no work. Land that had formerly grown sugar was now converted to growing henequen and employed the Korean farmers as cutters. The Koreans, bringing their henequen-cutting skills from Mexico soon showed their good skills and productivity which allowed some to rise to specialized fieldwork and even become trainers and supervisors.

Cubaiminsa

Korean immigrant Lim Cheontaek wrote a history book called Cubaiminsa in 1954 that describes the history of Korean immigrants living in Cuba.

Language

Most Korean Cubans today speak the

Spanish language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a global language with more than 500 million native speakers, mainly in th ...

. A Cuba-Korea culture center was built in 1921 that taught Korean writing and history in an attempt to remind the descendants of their heritage. But lack of funding shuttered the center and now it is hard to find a descendant of the Korean immigrants who can speak the

Korean language Korean ( South Korean: , ''hangugeo''; North Korean: , ''chosŏnmal'') is the native language for about 80 million people, mostly of Korean descent. It is the official and national language of both North Korea and South Korea (geographic ...

Famous Korean Cubans

Jeronimo Lim Kim Jeronimo Lim Kim (1926–2006) was a Korean Cuban who was known for being a part of the Cuban Revolution. He was a law school classmate of Fidel Castro. Early life Jeronimo's father, Lim Cheon-taek (1903–1985), left Korea in hope of a better li ...

References

External links

*
Five Generations On, Mexico's Koreans Long for Home
" ''

The Chosun Ilbo ''The Chosun Ilbo'' (, ) is a daily newspaper in South Korea and the oldest daily newspaper in the country. With a daily circulation of more than 1,800,000, the ''Chosun Ilbo'' has been audited annually since the Audit Bureau of Circulations w ...