Summary
The Karatal District Korean History Center (Tatar: Қаратал Ауданы Корей Халқының Тарихи Кешені; Russian: Исторический Комплекс Корейцев Каратальского Района; Korean: 까라딸지역 고려인 역사단지) is a local and ethnic history museum dedicated to the Korean community in Karatal District. It is located in Ushtobe, Kazakhstan.[1]
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| Location | Ushtobe, Kazakhstan |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 45°16′13″N 77°59′29″E / 45.2702°N 77.9915°E |
| Type | Local ethnic history museum |
Koreans of the mainland former Soviet Union are called Koryo-saram. They descend from populations of Koreans who were forced to move from the Russian Far East to Central Asia in 1937.[1]
History edit
The founder of the museum is Korean-American missionary Helen Park (Хелена; Пак Хи Джин; 박히진).[1] In 2003, Park and her husband moved as missionaries to Russia. However, her husband passed away while they lived in St. Petersburg. Kim moved to Almaty, Kazakhstan to participate in the building of a missionary center.[1][2] In Kazakhstan, she gathered donations to build a teaching facility for the Korean and English languages. Her students ended up successfully moving to South Korea for work.[1] Upon hearing the story of how the Koryo-saram were once forced to move to Kazakhstan and given so few resources to start their new lives that they had to dig burrows out of the frozen ground with their bare hands (location of this is now at the Kazakhstan–Korea Friendship Park), she felt motivated to share their story.[1] After suffering from a stroke in 2017, she began work on preparing the museum.[1] She received help from a number of people she met and fellow members of the Christian community.[1]
Description edit
There are both indoor and outdoor exhibits in the museum. One room is for watching historical films, which also contains books, photographs, and other historical materials. Another room contains household items, Korean clothing, letters, and newspapers.[1]
In the courtyard, there are a number of recreated and authentic exhibits that demonstrate the daily life of the Koreans in Karatal.[1][3] An original house that a Korean lived in was moved onto the museum grounds. There is an oven, a rice pounder, and a recreated burrow. There is an original thatched roof hut.[1]
The museum managers, notably Helen Park, have been known to give tours to visitors to the surrounding area, to demonstrate where the Koreans engaged in various activities, such as growing rice.[4]
References edit
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Музей истории коре сарам в Уштобе". KOREANS.KZ (in Russian). Retrieved 2024-02-02.
- ^ "[코칭칼럼] 우슈토베의 리더 헬렌". 프라임경제 (in Korean). Retrieved 2024-02-02.
- ^ "민주평화통일자문회의". www.puac.go.kr (in Korean). Retrieved 2024-02-02.
- ^ "<국외조사> 카자흐스탄 고려인 집거지 우슈토베, 바슈토베 및 박박티 조사". kdiaspora.knu.ac.kr. Retrieved 2024-02-02.