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중동경제연구소 Korea Institute of the Mideast Economies

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2008 OIC International Symposium on Muslim Minorities in Asia

KMF invited participants on the symposium as delivering introductory speech as follows; "Almost 70% of Muslims in the world live in Asia where different religions and believes are intermingled, sometimes cooperating and very often conflicting. In particular, Muslims as minorities are faced to new sense of identity to maximize their value of existence. Muslim communities in Asia are faced to another important tasks how to live together with other religions based on mutual respect through coexistence and cooperation.

In most of Asian countries, Muslims have been living retaining their religious identity as minorities under such different religious circumstances as Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism, Christianity, etc. These positive atmospheres toward Islam and Muslims are seriously shaken by the September 11 event of 2001. Therefore, it is the very time to restore ever existed mutual cooperation and coexistence among different religions through dialogue and more active persuasion.

We believe that the principle and basic thought of Islam are parallel with Asian value system in many parts. The aims of the occasion are to reconfirm the clear position of Islam's tolerance and peaceful solution through academic discussion with other religious followers."

Dr. Ameer Ali (Murdouch University Business School, Australia) emphasized that the Muslim world has the financial strength and the political changes clout to address poverty and economic difficulties. What is laking is determination. In the current climate of globalization and information technology human resource development has received increased attention in the international reports on economicdevelpoment and highest priority in public policy making.

I personally feel my great honor to participate this Korean symposium and wish to prosper OIC and to thank its contributional efforts to improve human standard of living.

The Role of Muslim in Korean Economy: Past and Present

This is the summery that I read at the 1st International Symposium in Asia under the title of  "The Challenge and Prospect in Multi-Cultural Society" by the host of Korea Muslim Federation and orgaized by Organization of the Islamic Conference(OIC) Hotel KyoYuk MunHwa HoeKwan, Seoul Krea during July 4 - July 6, 2008.

Dr. Seong Min Hong(President, KIME)

Korean War (1950-53) became to motivate directly an Islamic adventure to Korea and 'oil crisis' gave an opportunity to contact with Muslim in 1970s. In the modern context, Korea's contact with the Middle East has been started since 1970's, more correctly speaking, after the first 'Oil Crisis' of 1973.

In Korea, the number of Muslims is estimated to be about 45,000 and about 70 or 80% of them are foreigners in addition to some 100,000 foreign workers from Muslim countries.  There are Korea Muslim Federation in Seoul and 8 permanent mosques around the country, and in general, Islam is a growing religion here.

Muslims activity has put down roots in Korean society. Arab businessmen and sailors played the great role in East Asian trade during A.D. 5th - 10th centuries. That was the time when Arab sailors established the first commercial routes around Southeastern Asia and settled sea trade route with China. Today many residents of the ancient period are living in China as a Chinese Muslim.

Keeping pace with this situation, Muslims arrived at Korea (Silla dynasty) as well according to Korean history. However these contacts vanished completely from the change of Korean society and decline of Muslim's ruling the sea from A.D. 12th century. Muslim immigrants were gradually assimilated by the Koreans, and then they dissolved in the local population.

The fact that when, where and why the Muslims contacted with Korean historically is very important to find out the commercial activity in those days. Considering the wide activities of the Arabs in history, they would have traveled to Eastern countries, especially China for silk trade. They might have visited Korean peninsula from the curiosity of commerce after the exploring China. Certainly we can find the fact that the Arabs traded with China through 'Silk Road'.

To broaden commercial activity with the Middle East, it is necessary to trace the contact between Korea and the Middle East simultaneous history. Commercial activities between Korean and Muslim in history can guide the future economic relation between us.

Small-scale contact with predominantly Muslim peoples, particularly the Uyghurs, continued on and off. One word for Islam in Korean, hoegyo (回敎) comes from huihe (回紇), an old Chinese name for the Uyghurs. In the late Goryeo period, there were mosques in the capital Gaeseong During the Koryo period (918-1392) Kaesong, then the nations capital, was home to a thriving Muslim community, and there was a mosque as well. Members of one of the countrys clans, the Changs of Toksu, still recall that the clans founder was a Muslim who came to Korea during the Koryo era. However, the Yi dynasty, which seized power in 1392, was much more introspective than its predecessor, so these early connections with the Near East gradually withered (The Korea Times, 11-22-2002).. During Mongol rule in Korea the Mongols relied heavily on Uyghurs to help them run their vast empire because of Uighur literacy and Uighur experience in managing extended trading networks. At least two of those Uyghurs settled down in Korea permanently and became the progenitors of two Korean clans influence.

One of those Central Asian immigrants to Korea originally came to Korea as an aide to a Mongol princess who had been sent to marry King Chungnyeol. Goryeo documents say that his original name was Samga but, after he decided to make Korea his permanent home, the king bestowed on him the Korean name of Jang Sunnyong. Jang married a Korean and became the founding ancestor of the Deoksu Jang clan.  His clan produced many high officials and respected Confucian scholars over the centuries. Twenty-five generations later, around 30,000 Koreans look back to Jang Sunnyong as the grandfather of their clan. They are aware that he was not a native of Korea.

Many believe that he was an Arab Muslim. However, there is no evidence of Islamic influence on Deoksu Jang family traditions. The same is true of the descendants of another Central Asian who settled down in Korea. A Central Asian (probably a Uyghur) named Seol Son fled to Korea when the Red Turban rebellion erupted near the end of the Mongol’s Yuan dynasty. He, too, married a Korean, originating a lineage called the Gyeongju Seol that claims at least 2,000 members in Korea today but shows no special signs of Muslim influence.

It is very difficult to distinguish the role of Muslim in Korean economy. Various materials and historical relics have proved the early contact in 7th century or the before. Certainly many Muslims contacted with Koreans after the birth of Islam. Ibn Khurdazibah and other documents including Korean history just mentioned Muslims coming and going and settlement in Korea. Besides Mosque in Gaeseong during the late Goryeo dynasty and the beginning of the Deoksu Jang clan also mentioned social but economic contact in Korea.

Nevertheless this paper could find the activities of Muslim merchants through contact with Koreans in the middle ages. Confining the study in the medieval Islamic period, this paper came to draw following conclusions:

First, the origin of commercial relations between Korean and Muslim goes back to Shilla era. As for the discontinuation of it, Islam fallen into a decline before and after 12th century and, in return of that, Western Empires became to get the command of the sea. After that, Korean trading had faced with the boundary of their activity till the Second World War.

Second, through mutual commercial relations between Shilla, China and the Middle East, this paper confirmed that the import goods from Korea to the Middle East were ginseng, gold or silver pocketknife (Firind), silk fabrics, pottery and hawk etc.

Finally, the products which including smelling medicine, East-India's spice, rhinoceros horn, ivory, parrot, and peacock etc. were imported to Korea as the commodities of Muslim's trade. But the special products of the Middle East did not be found in the above-mentioned sources.

Obviously Muslim had played a role to promote international trade and deliver strange culture into Korean society in the middle ages. But their community was melted by Korean society and assimilated into Korean culture not like China till now. This can be owed to characteristics of Korean society. On the contrary, in China from the mid-13th century, the privileged merchants of Islamic adherence came to organize themselves and were called 'Ortaq Merchant  Ortaq(O-t'o, 斡脫) is a kind of Muslim merchant's association which established by the special permit of feudal lord and managing his capital. The term of Ortaq was derived from the Turkish language, which means association member (Genosse), comrade (Thilnehmer). After that, the Ortaq was spread over the Persian society and became to mean merchant or trader, especially a member of merchant association in Persian language.. In this way Muslim merchants had been accumulated their wealth. Their polygamy custom also was concerted with Chinese polygamy custom and the number of Muslim increased greatly.

Otherwise in Chinese case, Korean society has kept unitary state system through kingdom. By this reason, religion in South Korea is dominated by the traditional Buddhist faith. The practice of both of these faiths has been strongly influenced by the enduring legacies of Korean Confucianism, which was the official ideology of the 500-year-long Joseon Dynasty, and Korean shamanism, the native religion of the Korean Peninsula. A small minority of Koreans also profess Islam.

This is the main reason why this paper cannot clarify Muslim community and its role in Korean economy. Certainly many Muslims are contributing to Korean economy as shown the number of Muslim labors, about 10,000 persons. Now it is not easy to formulate Muslim community, especially as an economic organization considering the characteristics of Korean society. The establishment of Islamic bank can be an alternative way to increase the role of Muslim in Korean society.

이슬람회의기구 OIC

이슬람회의기구(Organization of the Islamic Conference; OIC)는 4대륙에 걸친 57개국의 회원국을 갖고 있는 UN 다음으로 세계에서 두 번째로 큰 정부간 기구이다. OIC는 무슬림 세계의 집단적인 목소리이며, 세계의 다양한 국민들간에 국제적인 평화와 화합을 도모하려는 정신으로 무슬림 세계의 권익을 보호하고 있다. OIC는 점령지 예루살렘에 있는 '알-악사 사원(Al-Aqsa Mosque)의 범죄적인 방화사건을 계기로, 1969년 9월 25일(이슬람력 1389년 라잡(Rajab) 12일) 모로코의 수도 라바트(Rabat)에서 개최된 역사적인 정상회담의 결정에 의해 창설되었다.

이슬람 외상회의(Islamic Conference of Foreign Minister; ICFM)의 첫 번째 회합이 1970년 젯다에서 개최되었고, 동 회담에서 OIC 사무총장에 의해 주도되는 상임사무국을 사우디 아라비아의 젯다에 설치하기로 결정하였다.

현재의 OIC 헌장은 2008년 3월 13-14일 다카(Dakar)에서 개최된 제11차 이슬람정상회담에서 채택되었으며, 기구의 목포, 원칙 및 회원국간 결속과 협력을 강화하기 위한 기본적인 목적을 정하였다. 과거 38년 이상 회원국은 창설회원국 30개국으로부터 57개국으로 증대되었다. OIC는 움마(Ummah)를 통합된 기구로 불어넣는 유일한 영예를 갖고 전세계 15억이상의 무슬림의 가슴에 감춰진 모든 대의(大義)를 신봉하며 능동적으로 무슬림을 대변하고 있다. OIC는 무슬림의 강력한 이익을 보호하고 회원국을 포함하는 분쟁 및 분규의 해결을 위한 노력을 하기 위하여 UN 및 다른 정부간 기구들과 자문 및 협력적 관계를 갖고 있다. 이슬람과 무슬림의 실질적인 가치를 보호하기 위하여, OIC는 (이슬람에 대한) 오해를 제거하기 위한 다양한 조치들을 채댁하고 있으며, 모든 형태와 선언에서 무슬림에 대한 차별을 강력하게 옹호해오고 있다.

21세기 OIC 회원국들은 많은 도전에 직면하고 있으며 이러한 도전에 부응하기 위하여 2005년 12월 메카에서 제3차 임시 이슬람정상회의가 개최되었다. 이 회의에서는 '10개년 행동계획(Ten-Year Program of Action)으로 명명되는 청사진이 마련되었다. 10개년 행동계획은 관용과 온건의 증진, 근대화, 과학, 기술, 교육, 교역 증진을 포함하는 모든 분야의 활동에 있어서 광범위한 개혁에 관한 회원국 상호간의 공동행동을 직시하고 선(善)한 통치와 특히 어린이, 여성, 노인 및 이슬람의 견지에 따른 가족의 권리에 관해서는 무슬림 세계에서 인간권리의 증진을 강조한다.

이슬람회의기구 조직도 (OIC Organization Chart)

 Source: http://www.oic-oci.org/oicnew/  : Organization