Koreans in the Philippines: Middle of Nowhere, Out of Everywhere
At the foothills of the magnificent Taal Volcano, two hours drive south of Manila, there is a little two-story concrete building. It is a building no different from any other local ones that stand densely across the highway from the luxuries resorts, restaurants, and private homes that crowd the Tagaytay Ridge offering perfect, unobstructed view of the Volcano's surrounding lake fromed from an ancient crater. On the second floor of the building was a little sign: Hansung Vision Church (한성 비전 교회), pasted in strips of simple blue-colored plastic tape over a background picture of green field dotted with pink flowers.
As the first-time visitor to the town tries hard to conceal the surprise of seeing a random Korean church in this middle of nowhere in the Philippines (not to mention the world), he is soon stopped by another church ("Spring Church (생물 교회)"?), and then another ("Unification Vision Church (통일 비전 교회)"??) and pretty soon, he has seen half a dozen Korean churches in a casual ten-minute walk. And then, as soon as he get used to seeing anything Korean, he starts noticing dozens of other Korean establishments like pretty authentic-looking Korean eateries ("Ulsan Restaurant (울산 실당)???) and Korean food stores...
The more one sees, the more the town feels like a gigantic Korea-town, yet one that is so discreet (despite all the obvious Korean signs) that the only presence of actual Korean people can be felt by heading to one of the high-end restaurants near the big volcano lake where wealthy Korean expats families show up for weekend getaways from Metro Manila with their drivers and maids in tow. Indeed, without major industries or anything that really attract long-time residence of any expats (aside from volcano freaks who would want to see the Volcano everyday) it really is a wonder why there is such a high Korean influence here.
And clearly, the Korean influence here is significantly different from the usual type dominated by rich kids coming here to study English and partake in cheap entertainment...nor is it a result of locals trying to spice up their town a bit with mad conformity with the hottest Korean Wave trends. The Korean presence in this rural part of southern Luzon seem to predate all of that. The Korean establishments here are not at all fancy (in fact, some of these churches look more rundown than the local housing nearby) and presents a much more religious undertone than a nationalistic/culturally chauvinistic one usually found in Korea-towns.
The Korean presence in the Philippines can instead be speculated to have an origin that is not entirely economic or recent in nature (although the shockingly low prices of even high-end Filipino lifestyle is definitely a pull factor for Koreans, as it is for people from other developed countries such as Europe and America). As previously hinted, religious zeal does play a large part. Koreans who found difficulty doing missionary activities back home tend to base themselves here in the Philippines, where it does seem people are more open-minded and less hostile toward changes in religion.
This may explain the unusually large presence of Korean-led churches, many of which are neither Catholic or Protestant but present some sort of unique Korean interpretation of Christianity that young Korean preachers are trying to pass onto locals as universal (Rev. Moon's Unification Church exemplifies this phenomenon in even small towns like Tagaytay. And such religious zeal may have established itself here before Korea became any sort of economic power after the 1970s. This would explain why, despite the ubiquitous Korean presence, very little of Korean Wave or South Korean nationalism can be felt in this small town.
But certain part of being Korean still very much hold true here, just as it does in newer Korean communities in Metro Manila. Koreans are very much self-isolationist, living separate lives from their Filipino neighbors even after decades of supposedly missionary work. For instance, despite having many Korean food stores in town, the locals have not at all adopted any Korean dishes in their cuisine. In contrast, locals happily peddle siomai (燒賣) and siobao (燒包), localized versions of Chinese dim-sum, on the streets in local neighborhood, despite an almost complete lack of Chinese people in this area.
How the status of Korean culture, present for decades, will now change with the Korean Wave still remains to be seen. It is certain that the Korean Wave is very much loved by Filipinos (the author has experienced multiple instances of being asked if I am Korean and watch the inquirers being disappointed when told that I am Chinese) but would that cultural influence move beyond superficial mimicking of fashion styles and pop music remains to be seen. After all, it is still very much uncertain how these discreet Koreans in Tagaytay will react to the rapid change of Korea's international cultural standings.
As the first-time visitor to the town tries hard to conceal the surprise of seeing a random Korean church in this middle of nowhere in the Philippines (not to mention the world), he is soon stopped by another church ("Spring Church (생물 교회)"?), and then another ("Unification Vision Church (통일 비전 교회)"??) and pretty soon, he has seen half a dozen Korean churches in a casual ten-minute walk. And then, as soon as he get used to seeing anything Korean, he starts noticing dozens of other Korean establishments like pretty authentic-looking Korean eateries ("Ulsan Restaurant (울산 실당)???) and Korean food stores...
The more one sees, the more the town feels like a gigantic Korea-town, yet one that is so discreet (despite all the obvious Korean signs) that the only presence of actual Korean people can be felt by heading to one of the high-end restaurants near the big volcano lake where wealthy Korean expats families show up for weekend getaways from Metro Manila with their drivers and maids in tow. Indeed, without major industries or anything that really attract long-time residence of any expats (aside from volcano freaks who would want to see the Volcano everyday) it really is a wonder why there is such a high Korean influence here.
And clearly, the Korean influence here is significantly different from the usual type dominated by rich kids coming here to study English and partake in cheap entertainment...nor is it a result of locals trying to spice up their town a bit with mad conformity with the hottest Korean Wave trends. The Korean presence in this rural part of southern Luzon seem to predate all of that. The Korean establishments here are not at all fancy (in fact, some of these churches look more rundown than the local housing nearby) and presents a much more religious undertone than a nationalistic/culturally chauvinistic one usually found in Korea-towns.
The Korean presence in the Philippines can instead be speculated to have an origin that is not entirely economic or recent in nature (although the shockingly low prices of even high-end Filipino lifestyle is definitely a pull factor for Koreans, as it is for people from other developed countries such as Europe and America). As previously hinted, religious zeal does play a large part. Koreans who found difficulty doing missionary activities back home tend to base themselves here in the Philippines, where it does seem people are more open-minded and less hostile toward changes in religion.
This may explain the unusually large presence of Korean-led churches, many of which are neither Catholic or Protestant but present some sort of unique Korean interpretation of Christianity that young Korean preachers are trying to pass onto locals as universal (Rev. Moon's Unification Church exemplifies this phenomenon in even small towns like Tagaytay. And such religious zeal may have established itself here before Korea became any sort of economic power after the 1970s. This would explain why, despite the ubiquitous Korean presence, very little of Korean Wave or South Korean nationalism can be felt in this small town.
But certain part of being Korean still very much hold true here, just as it does in newer Korean communities in Metro Manila. Koreans are very much self-isolationist, living separate lives from their Filipino neighbors even after decades of supposedly missionary work. For instance, despite having many Korean food stores in town, the locals have not at all adopted any Korean dishes in their cuisine. In contrast, locals happily peddle siomai (燒賣) and siobao (燒包), localized versions of Chinese dim-sum, on the streets in local neighborhood, despite an almost complete lack of Chinese people in this area.
How the status of Korean culture, present for decades, will now change with the Korean Wave still remains to be seen. It is certain that the Korean Wave is very much loved by Filipinos (the author has experienced multiple instances of being asked if I am Korean and watch the inquirers being disappointed when told that I am Chinese) but would that cultural influence move beyond superficial mimicking of fashion styles and pop music remains to be seen. After all, it is still very much uncertain how these discreet Koreans in Tagaytay will react to the rapid change of Korea's international cultural standings.
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