My Korean Father Was Born in Uzbekistan, My Mother is Russian
Photos provided by Evgeniya
“I have Korean roots on my father’s side and am half Russian on my mother’s side. My father was born in Uzbekistan; his parents were deported from Russia in 1937 along with 170,000 Korean people who lived in the Far East. My parents met in Uzbekistan. My father’s family didn’t like that he married a non-Korean woman. My mother’s parents were not happy with him either. In the 1980s, inter-ethnic marriages were rare.
I grew up in the Post-Soviet Union in the 90s, which was a difficult time. The future was unsure, people were unemployed and families were separated by new borders. Currently, we have relatives in Ukraine and Russia. Paying attention to the current situation between these countries, it’s been hard to collect my thoughts.
Here are some photos of my father’s family in the mid 60s and 70s.”
“My husband and I met about 7 years ago at our friend’s birthday party. We quickly discovered we shared a language. We were brought up in very similar multicultural atmospheres and think alike. Both of us grew up in families that tried to combine the traditions of our Korean and Russian/Ukrainian ancestors while living in Uzbekistan. We were also familiar with the traditions of the Uzbek people and treated them with respect.
About 6 years ago, we decided to move to Korea as it seemed there would be more opportunities for us here. When we came to Korea, we were already familiar with culture; it’s almost the same culture that was preserved by our older generation. Some traditions, food and language are very similar. There are of course some differences, since the language [we grew up with] has been slightly modified and become outdated compared to modern Korean, but we adapted very quickly. We are planning to stay here and when it’s possible, we want our parents to come. My husband runs a business in Korea and he is planning to expand his enterprise. Our son was born in Korea and we think this is a great place to bring up a child, thanks to the medical and education benefits.”
