United Koreans in Japan

“Zainichi” is a Japanese word, which means “foreigners who stay in Japan”, but when they say “Zainichi Koreans”, it refers long-term Korean residents of Japan who trace their roots to Korean Peninsula. The modern flow of Koreans to Japan started with the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1876 and increased dramatically after Japan occupied Korea in 1910. When Japan was defeated at World War II in 1945, more than 2 million Koreans stayed in Japan as Japanese, but after the war, they lost their Japanese nationalities and half of them returned to Korean Peninsula. 1 million of them remained in Japan, and their decendants are now called as Zainichi Koreans. Zainichi Koreans who have permanent residence in Japan amount to 484,627 (Ministry of Justice Immigration Bureau in June 2016). Zainichi Koreans are educated in their ethnic school, “Korean School”, from kindergarten to university. At Korean Schools, besides the general subjects, the students learn Korean language and football. Men and women of all ages in the community enjoyed and have been encouraged by football. Now there are many Zainichi Koreans play in Japan and in foreigh countries, and some Zainichi Korean players were selected kNorth Korea delegate and played in FIFA World Cup. However, they didn’t have any opportunity to play international matches as the delegate of Zainichi Korean, that they have desired. That is the reason why they established the United Koreans in Japan and joined CONIFA in 2015. UKJ participated in World Football Cup in 2016 in Abkhazia and they were 7th among 12 teams, and qualified the third CONIFA World Football Cup in London.