Vietnamese People in Korea - Early History

Early History

One of the earliest Vietnamese people in Korea was Lý Dương Can (李陽焜), an adopted son of Emperor Lý Nhân Tông; following a succession crisis, he fled to Goryeo. He is known in modern-day Korea as an early non-Korean member of the Jeongseon-gun, Gangwon-do bon-gwan of the Lee family. Later, a Vietnamese prince of the Lý Dynasty, Lý Long Tường (the seventh son of emperor Lý Anh Tông) and his crew of several thousand mandarins and servants escaped directly to Korea after hearing that the Lý Dynasty would be overthrown by the Trần Dynasty. Lý Anh Tông and his crew sought refuge in the great Goryeo Kingdom in 1226. A report on Lý Long Tường was broadcast by the South Korean TV channel KBS in December 1995.

Urban myth has it that King Gojong of Goryeo (1213–1259) had dreamt of a phoenix flying from the south landing in his nation; therefore, he ordered the local government of Haeju, Hwanghae to allow the Vietnamese refugees permission to live in a manor in the nearby countryside. Lý Long Tường thus became the patriarch of the Lee family of Hwasan, Ongjin-gun.

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