Gwangju Koryoin Village

Walk into the lanes of Wolgok-dong in Gwangju's Gwangsan district and Cyrillic signs hang right next to Korean ones. Koryoin Village is a community of Koryo-saram, descendants of ethnic Koreans who lived across the former Soviet Union, and together with Ttaetgol Village in Ansan it is one of the largest such communities in South Korea. About 7,000 people lived here in 2022, and bakeries, noodle shops and shashlik grills from Central Asia line the streets. Remember that this is a neighbourhood where people live and work before it is a sight, and you will see much more.

Who are the Koryo-saram?

Their story begins in the 1860s, when Koreans started moving to the Russian Far East. In 1937 Stalin's government deported them en masse to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in Central Asia, where they lived for generations. Having spoken Russian for so long, many of those who have now come "back" to Korea speak little Korean.

History: a village that began with one woman

The community is usually traced back to Shin Jo-ya, a third-generation Koryo-saram from Uzbekistan. She came to Korea in 2001, moved to this area in 2002, worked in local factories and opened a centre to help Koryo-saram workers. The community started with around 20 people, grew as friends and relatives followed, and by 2013 several thousand lived here.

Gwangju city set up support measures for the residents and declared 2017 the "Year of Visiting Koryoin Village". After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, several hundred Koryo-saram from Ukraine came here, helped by money and shelter raised by the residents themselves.

What to see

• Wolgok Koryoin Culture Center "Gyeol": a two-storey museum. The ground-floor permanent gallery, "Sumgyeol" (Breath), tells the history of Koryo-saram migration in five themes, and upstairs are a temporary exhibition room, a gallery on notable Koryo-saram and a room for nationally designated records.
• Koryoin Village specialty street: more than 100 businesses run by Koryo-saram, from restaurants and bakeries to grocery shops under Cyrillic signs.
• Food: try morkovcha (tangy marinated carrot salad), shashlik skewers, plov (rice pilaf) and somsa (oven-baked meat pastries).
• Community facilities: a support centre, kindergarten, alternative school and a radio station are scattered through the lanes; signs and murals alone tell you a lot about how the village works.

Good to know

• The village radio station opened in 2016 and even runs a weekly programme on Russian literature.
• The culture centre hosts temporary exhibitions on figures and themes from Koryo-saram history, such as Korean-language Koryo-saram literature or the geologist Vitaly Li; topics change regularly.

Nearby

• Usan Wolgok Market: a permanent market a few minutes' walk from the culture centre, where a traditional Korean market and Koryo-saram shops sit side by side.
• May 18th National Cemetery: about 14 km east, one of Gwangju's key historical sites, an easy pairing for a day on the city's modern history.

Tripto tips

• Culture centre: 10:00–17:00 (break 12:00–13:00), closed Mondays, over the Lunar New Year and Chuseok holidays and on 1 January. Admission is free, and no booking is needed for the exhibition alone.
• Village tour: tours that include making a matryoshka doll or a meal at a Koryo-saram family restaurant must be booked in advance online. Schedules change often, so check before you go.
• Etiquette: this is a residential neighbourhood. Don't photograph homes or people without asking, and ask before taking pictures inside shops.
• Time needed: about 1 hour for the culture centre, 2 to 3 hours with a meal and a walk. Coming at lunchtime is the easiest way to try a Koryo-saram restaurant.