UH Manoa Library Presents "Korean Russians" Exhibit

University of Hawaiʻi
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Posted: Mar 31, 2004

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Library presents "Korean Russians" on display in the Hamilton Library Asia Collection on the 4th floor through the end of April.

This exhibit, prepared by Kyungmi Chun and Patricia Polansky, Hamilton Library's Korean and Russian bibliographers, depicts a fascinating history of Koreans in Russia.

The first Korean settlers arrived in the Russian Far East during the mid 19th century and quickly became influential in the cultural, economic and political affairs of the region. However, in the 1930s Stalin's purges forced the resettlement of the entire population to far off Kazakhstan. With the advent of perestroika under Gorbachev in the 1980s, the Korean Russians (Russians call them "Russian Koreans") revived their native language and were once again free to celebrate their own customs, which they continue to do to this day.