Koreans Living in the U.S. "Strong Ethnic Identity"... Twice That of Japanese

Pew Research Center, Asian American Survey

Among Asians living in the United States, those of Korean origin showed a much stronger ethnic identity compared to those of Japanese origin. Seven out of ten Korean Americans described their identity as ‘Korean American’ or ‘Korean,’ while only half of Japanese Americans did so.

The U.S. public opinion research organization Pew Research Center released the results of a perception survey conducted from July last year to January this year on 7,000 Asian adults with U.S. citizenship from six ethnic groups: Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Filipino, and Vietnamese, on the 8th (local time).

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Among Asian respondents, 52% mentioned their ethnic background when describing their identity. Only 16% used the broad term ‘Asian American.’ Those who identified themselves as ‘Asian’ or ‘American’ accounted for 12% and 10%, respectively.

In particular, 66% of Korean Americans clearly used expressions such as ‘Korean American’ or ‘Korean’ when introducing themselves. This was the highest percentage among the Asian groups surveyed.

Following Koreans, Vietnamese (64%), Indians (62%), Filipinos (61%), and Chinese (51%) were found to use expressions revealing their ethnicity when introducing themselves. Only 34% of Japanese Americans used such expressions.

On the other hand, the Asian group with the highest proportion of people introducing themselves solely by their ethnic origin without mentioning ‘American’ was Indians. Among them, 41% said they introduced themselves only as ‘Indian’ without saying ‘Indian American.’

The percentages for Koreans (30%), Filipinos (29%), Chinese (26%), and Vietnamese (23%) were lower. Among Japanese Americans, 14% used the term ‘Japanese’ without mentioning ‘American’ when introducing themselves.

The way people introduced themselves also varied depending on how long they had lived in the United States.

Pew Research Center reported that expressions like ‘Korean American’ were more frequently used by first-generation immigrants who lived in Korea and then moved to the U.S., rather than by those born and raised in the U.S.

Additionally, 59% of Asians who have lived in the U.S. for more than 20 years use the word ‘American’ in some form when introducing themselves, whereas only 17% of those who have lived in the U.S. for 10 years or less use the term ‘American.’

90% of respondents answered that “Asian Americans have diverse cultures.” While Asians clearly express their identity along with their ethnicity, they felt that non-Asians do not perceive them that way.

60% of respondents said that non-Asians they meet on the street would simply see them as ‘Asian.’ Pew Research Center explained, “This means that most Asian adults feel they are perceived by others as a ‘single group.’” 20% of respondents reported having hidden their roots due to concerns about prejudice or discrimination.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.