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Cuban Koreans join 70th independence anniversary celebration

August 17, 2015
Dozens of Korean Cubans gathered in Havana to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Korean independence Saturday. (Kim Sang-mok/Korea Times)

Dozens of Korean Cubans gathered in Havana to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Korean independence Saturday. (Kim Sang-mok/Korea Times)

By Kim Sang-mok

HAVANA, CUBA — Korean Cubans greeted the 70th anniversary of Korean independence Saturday by remembering early immigrants who settled in the country as henequen farmers.

At a Havana gathering inside the city’s Korean community center near Miramar, dozens of children of early immigrants — henequen cutters from Mexico — gathered with Korean flags in hand.

Most of them are third- or fourth-generation Korean Cubans who speak little of the Korean language, but they nonetheless broke out singing the Korean national anthem and “Arirang” in harmony.

“When I sing the ‘Arirang,’ I think of the difficult and sad immigrants’ life my mother and father lived as henequen farm cutters,” said Antonio Kim, 73, president of a local Korean cultural association. “Today, on the 70th anniversary of Korean liberation from Japan, I realize once more that we are Cuban, but also Korean.”

Jung Jae-hyuk, a counselor from the Korean Embassy in Mexico, was also present at the event. Kim Sung-eui, a traditional dancer, performed.

Oh Byung-moon, head of the local Pyongtong Association, attended the event with members from Mexico, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic.

“When I remember the support given to the independence movement by early Korean immigrants, all looked down upon as henequen farmers, our celebration today of independence feels even more significant,” Oh said.

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