History UsefulNotes / KoreansInJapan

Being neighboring countries, Japan and Korea share a long relationship that predates since ancient times. Most cases, such relations were generally benevolent with both sides engaging in trade, exchanging cultural ideas, and whatnot. This is good as it can get, though. As with any neighboring nations throughout the world, both sides have also waged war against each other throughout history. And major events like these can leave a big impact, especially if one side has committed enough horrendous acts. Korea, in particular, suffers through this from the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_invasions_of_Korea_(1592%E2%80%931598) Japanese invasions in the late 16th century]], and ultimately, [[UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan Japan's 35-year colonial rule during the 20th century]]. During the latter, Japan actively tried to [[CulturePolice destroy Korean culture]] and forced the Korean people to change their names in Japanese. Sometimes, Koreans were brought back to Japan, where they would work as slaves in the factories to help Japan vitalize it's military. So this does partly explain the Korean minority group present in Japan.

* In the GirlsLove VisualNovel ''Sapphism no Gensou'', one of the choices for main character and lesbian Anri is the young Korean girl, Fan Soyoung.

* The Aron line, introduced in ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'', are based on the bulgasari, a Korean mythical creature that eats iron. Its appearance is specifically based on its appearance from the 1985 ''Film/Pulgasari'' North Korean film which is a remake of a lost 1962 South Korean film.

** Sawk, introduced in ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'', only has one eyebow because it is a reference to how Mas Oyama would shave off one of his eyebrows.

** There are Baek Doo San and Hwoarang in the ''Franchise/{{Tekken}}'' series. When he first debuted, Baek was portrayed as a villain, being an [[ArrogantKungFuGuy Arrogant Taekwondo Guy]] who destroyed Marshall Law's quarters, though he does have [[AccidentalMurder a troubled backstory]]. This disappeared come ''VideoGame/Tekken5'', though. Hwoarang, on the other hand, has a [[FriendlyRivalry love-hate relationship]] with the series' main protagonist, Jin Kazama.

** The ''VideoGame/SoulSeries'' has Hwang Seong-gyeong, Seong Han-myeong, Seong Mi-na, and Hong Yun-seong. Hwang owes his existence to being a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute of [[{{Ronin}} Mitsurugi]] for the Korean arcade version of ''Soul Edge'', as Korea bans the depiction of samurai in its popular culture; fans liked the character so much that Namco included him in some games afterward, and Mitsurugi was replaced outright in ''Soulcalibur'' in favor of Hwang. Mi-na is also a BreakoutCharacter in her own right; when it was announced that she would not feature in ''VideoGame/SoulcaliburV'', fans were ''extremely'' pissed off.

* ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza}}'':
** A large part of the plot of ''VideoGame/Yakuza2'' involves a Korean mafia group hell-bent on revenge for the deaths of most of its members. [[spoiler:In fact, several major plot twists in the game are along the lines of "(Character X) ''is actually Korean''!"]] There's also a side mission that consists of escorting a Korean pop star named Il Yu-jin around the city while avoiding his rabid fans.

** One of the important characters in ''VideoGame/Yakuza5'' is Mirei Park, a female head of a talent agency who manages Haruka Sawamura.

** ''VideoGame/YakuzaLikeADragon'': The Geomijul is one of the three major criminal organizations in Ijincho. Composed of former Jingweon members[[labelnote:*]] [[spoiler: One of Ichiban's party members is a Geomijul hitman and a BodyDouble for [[VideoGame/Yakuza6 a long-deceased Jingweon boss]], while the current leader of the organization was a forger.]][[/labelnote]] and calling Koreatown home, the Geomijul makes use of an [[SinisterSurveillance extensive surveillance system]] and operate from the shadows.

** Speaking of the 16th century invasion, the event was pretty brutal with mass killings of civilians. Unsurprisingly, a handful of Japanese samurai defected to Korea, as they were [[NotWhatISignedOnFor against committing such violence]]. The most famous of these defectors was [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Chung-seon Sayaka]], who helped the Korean army fight off against his former Japanese compatriots. For his contributions, he was given a Korean name, Kim Chung-seon and was allowed to stay in Korea, continuing to defend the country against the Qing forces decades later. In his final years, he married to a daughter of an admistrative commander in Daegu. 20th century Japanese scholars initially questioned his existence, and established he was either a half-Korean, half-Japanese, or otherwise fictional. However, they eventually concluded that Sayaka did exist and established a monument of him in the Wakayama Prefecture.

** Speaking of the 16th century invasion, the event was pretty brutal with mass killings of civilians. Unsurprisingly, a handful of Japanese samurai defected to Korea, as they were [[NotWhatISignedOnFor against committing such violence]]. The most famous of these defectors was [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Chung-seon Sayaka]]. After witnessing his comrades tHe helped Korea's army fight off against his former Japanese compatriots and was eventually given a Korean name, Kim Chung-seon, for his contributions. After the invasion, he stayed in Korea, and continued to defend the country against the Qing forces in the later decades. In his final years, he married to a daughter of an admistrative commander in Daegu. 20th century Japanese scholars initially questioned his existence, and established he was either a half-Korean, half-Japanese, or otherwise fictional. However, they eventually concluded that Sayaka did exist and established a monument of him in the Wakayama Prefecture.

** Speaking of the 16th century invasion, the event was pretty brutal with mass killings of civilians. A handful of Japanese samurai actually defected to Korea, as they were [[NotWhatISignedOnFor against committing such violence]]. The most famous of these defectors was [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Chung-seon Sayaka]]. After witnessing his comrades tHe helped Korea's army fight off against his former Japanese compatriots and was eventually given a Korean name, Kim Chung-seon, for his contributions. After the invasion, he stayed in Korea, and continued to defend the country against the Qing forces in the later decades. In his final years, he married to a daughter of an admistrative commander in Daegu. 20th century Japanese scholars initially questioned his existence, and established he was either a half-Korean, half-Japanese, or otherwise fictional. However, they eventually concluded that Sayaka did exist and established a monument of him in the Wakayama Prefecture.

** Incidentally, during the 16th century invasion, a handful of Japanese samurai defected to Korea. The most famous of these defectors was [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Chung-seon Sayaka]]. He helped Korea's army fight off against his former Japanese compatriots and was eventually given a Korean name, Kim Chung-seon, for his contributions. After the invasion, he stayed in Korea, and continued to defend the country against the Qing forces in the later decades. In his final years, he married to a daughter of an admistrative commander in Daegu. 20th century Japanese scholars initially questioned his existence, and established he was either a half-Korean, half-Japanese, or otherwise fictional. However, they eventually concluded that Sayaka did exist and established a monument of him in the Wakayama Prefecture.

** Incidentally, during the 16th century invasion, a handful of Japanese samurai defected to Korea. The most famous of these defectors is named [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Chung-seon Sayaka]]. He helped Korea's army fight off against his former Japanese compatriots. For his contributions, he was given a Korean name, Kim Chung-seon. After the invasion, he stayed in Korea, and continued to defend the country against the Qing forces in the later decades. In his final years, he married to a daughter of an admistrative commander in Daegu. 20th century Japanese scholars initially questioned his existence, and established he was either a half-Korean, half-Japanese, or otherwise fictional. However, they eventually concluded that Sayaka did exist and established a monument of him in the Wakayama Prefecture.

** Incidentally, during the 16th century invasion, a handful Japanese samurai defected to Korea. The most famous of these defectors is named [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Chung-seon Sayaka]]. He helped Korea's army fight off against his former Japanese compatriots. For his contributions, he was given a Korean name, Kim Chung-seon. After the invasion, he stayed in Korea, and continued to defend the country against the Qing forces in the later decades. In his final years, he married to a daughter of an admistrative commander in Daegu. 20th century Japanese scholars initially questioned his existence, and established he was either a half-Korean, half-Japanese, or otherwise fictional. However, they eventually concluded that Sayaka did exist and established a monument of him in the Wakayama Prefecture.

* Japan and Korea are linked more than they would like to admit, and many Koreans wound up in Japan at several points in history:

But in the grand scheme of things, it does explain why you almost never see Koreans in Japanese media. The Japanese colonial period is a very sensitive subject for Koreans to this day. So having a fictional Korean character appearing in a Japanese work can be a bit of a gamble at times. Especially if portraying them in a negative light, it can get extremely ugly from [[https://hetalia.kitawiki.net/index.php/Korea_controversy there]]. Thus, Japanese writers are likely hesitant to include Korean characters for fear of this sort of backlash. Of course, Japan is not making it any better in their own terms, as they have the unfortunate tendency to deny some of its past atrocities committed against them, and right-wing Japanese groups don't appreciate being accused of committing them.