• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.50-69
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• 1987

There are about 400, 000 Korean ethnics living in Central Asia. Most of Koreans in Central Asia are leading a stable middle class life mostly engaged in farm work. With increase of educational attainment of their children, a number of Koreans are launching into political and academic circles as well as in the cultural world or the press. In recent years, however, the countries in this area(Uzbekistan and Kazakstan) for this study advocate an ethnic united policy to stabilize the politics and society and to carry out efficient transformation from the former socialistic economy to a market oriented economy. In addition, they are trying to recover the culture and the language of each nation which has been forgotten in the assimilation of Russia policy. Koreans have difficulty in adaption to this kind of change. In fact, a number of Koreans lost traditional culture and could not speak their mother language - Korean. Although they more or less maintain national consciousness, they recognize Uzbekistan or Kazakstan as their nation politically. They associated with North Korea unilaterally before the launching of the Perestroika policy. But after the Seoul Olympics held in 1998, there was movement to know and understand South Korea. There has been increased in the investment by Korean companies in Central Asia. Now, what is an alternative idea for Korean community consciousness\ulcorner It can be summarized as follows: 1) The increase of aid to Korean education institute : Considering the last few decades of Russia's strong racial assimilation policy, which leads most Koreans to lost their language and national culture, the priority should go to Koreans education. 2) Local Korean press support : Though Korean newspaper are published and Korean broadcasting is on the air currently in Uzbekistan and Kazakstan, they are suffering from qualified staff and poor financial status. Therefore, positive support should be established for these Korean mass communication media outlets to recover their own function and expand their dissemination powers quickly. 3) Research on the actual condition for Korean Community : It is essential to directly examine the local Korean community's regional distribution, population structure, Korean group's formation and operation, social and cultural understanding, racial consciousness, hope for their mother land and much more. 4) Increase of mother land and education opportunity : To stir up national culture and national consciousness within the Korean community, it is necessary to expand continuous opportunities for mother land visits and education training for local Koreans, especially for second and third generations.