With the increase in permanent residency and nationality acquisition, it appears that there is a trend of settling and establishing roots in South Korea.

[10] When writing in English, scholars use a number of different terms to refer to Chinese people in Korea, derived from Sino-Korean vocabulary but use different expressions for two languages.

One common one is hanguk hwagyo (Korean) or lühan huaqiao (Mandarin), meaning "Chinese staying in Korea".

Other authors call them huaqiao, but this term might be used to refer to overseas Chinese in any country, not just Korea, so sometimes a qualifier is added, for example "Korean-Huaqiao".

[19] There was little immigration from China during the first half of the Joseon period, but many Han Chinese settled in Korea during the Imjin War as well as during the fall of Ming.

[21] According to traditional Korean historiography of the Samguk Sagi, the mythical Chinese sage Jizi came to Korea during the Shang dynasty and established the semi-legendary Gija Joseon in the 11th century BCE.

Fleeing from the Mongols, in 1216 the Khitans invaded Goryeo and defeated the Korean armies multiple times, even reaching the gates of the capital and raiding deep into the south, but were defeated by Korean General Kim Chwi-ryeo who pushed them back north to Pyongan,[25][26] where the remaining Khitans were finished off by allied Mongol-Goryeo forces in 1219.

During the Yuan dynasty, one of Confucius' descendants, who was one of the sons of Duke Yansheng Kong Huan [zh], named Kong Shao (孔紹), moved from China to Goryeo era Korea and established a branch of the family there called the Gong clan of Qufu after marrying a Korean woman, the daughter of Jo Jin-gyeong (曹晉慶) during Toghon Temür's rule.

Ming Sheng was then exiled to Korea and Zhu Yuanzhang asked the Korean king to treat him as a foreign noble by giving his descendants and family corvée and taxation exemptions.

[57] However, there was little recognisable community until July 1882, when the Qing dynasty sent Admiral Wu Changqing [zh] and 3,000 troops at the request of the Korean government to aid in quelling a rebellion.

[59] Unlike in other Asian countries, 90% of the early overseas Chinese in Korea came from Shandong, rather than the southern coastal provinces of Guangdong and Fujian.

[4] During the late 19th and early 20th century Shandong was hard hit by famine, drought, and banditry especially in its northwest, and caused many to migrate to other parts of China and Korea.

[65] The number of Chinese in Korea would expand to 82,661 by 1942, but contracted sharply to 12,648 by 1945 due to economic hardships faced during World War II.

In April 1949, the CCP's Northeast Administrative Committee formally handed control of these schools over to the North Korean government, which began some efforts to integrate them into the national educational system.

[70] Being foreign citizens, North Korea's Chinese people were not eligible to join the ruling Korean Workers Party or advance in the military or the civil bureaucracy.

[9] After the PRC government came out in support of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1874 in June 2009, which imposed sanctions in North Korea, it was reported that North Korean surveillance and repression of Chinese residents had increased, and many had chosen to avoid making trips out of the country to avoid scrutiny.

China's official Xinhua News Agency published a figure of 4,000 overseas Chinese and 100 international students in 2008.

[66] After the division of Korea, the Chinese population in South Korea would remain stable for some time; however, when Park Chung Hee took power in a coup on May 16, 1961, he began to implement currency reforms and property restrictions which severely harmed the interests of the Chinese community, spurring an exodus.

It is estimated that only 26,700 of the old Chinese community now remain in South Korea; they largely hold Republic of China nationality.

[75] Yet, some who went to the United States or Taiwan found they could not adapt to life there either due to linguistic and cultural barriers, and ended up returning to South Korea, in a form of circular migration.

[80] And the rise of China and the 21st century global era, especially, Since the 1997 IMF crisis, as importance of foreign capital was emphasized, Overseas Chinese in Korea has arranged the foundation of a new leap forward.

Chinese have established some folk temples dedicated to various gods, which provide networks linking back to mainland China or Taiwan.

[83] However, according to politics professor Lee Jean-young at Inha University, many Chinese of Korean descent, who mostly came from rural areas and had a low level of education, did not follow public etiquette rules during the early years of their settlement, such as spitting on streets and littering anywhere.

He added that this combined with local media reporting of crimes by ethnic Korean-Chinese people and their depiction as criminals on TV had increased South Korean animosity towards them.