http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/EJ04Dg01.html

NORTH KOREA: ON THE BORDERLINE Part 5: A slice of Korea in China
By Alan Fung

Part 1: Soldiers head for the frontier Part 2: All quiet on the Dandong front Part 3: The past returns to Ji'an Part 4: Historic city tightens up

HONG KONG - A flight from Changchun, the capital of northeastern China's Jilin province, to Yanji takes about 40 minutes, including 15 minutes' climbing, 20 minutes' landing and only five minutes at the "cruising" height of 7,000 meters. Given this short flight, it is amazing that the two neighboring cities are linked by air.

But what strikes one most is Yanji Airport, which is has boarding bridges and a standard two-story departure lounge with an international division, looking more imposing than the provincial capital airport in Changchun.

Aside from the two mentioned airports, there is a third one in Jilin city, the former provincial capital. Boasting the largest airport among the three, Yanji displays its importance in the blueprint of China.

"It is more proper to describe [Yanji] as a Korean town than a Chinese one," my guide and driver Dongyuan told me.

Indeed, the whole Yanbian Choson (Korean) Autonomous Prefecture seems not part of China, especially its southern part bordering the Korean Peninsula. In Yanji, for instance, more than 60 percent of the 400,000 population are ethnic Koreans ("Chosons" as they are known in Chinese); signposts and billboards appear in both Chinese and Choson, but with the latter predominant; Korean instead of Mandarin is the spoken language.

Of the hottest television channels, four are broadcast in Korean, including two Yanbian-based stations and two others from South Korea: KBS (Korean Broadcasting System) and MBC (Munhwa Broadcasting Corp). A South Korean fad is flooding the locality with its TV plays, singers and movie stars, while the Hong Kong celebrities popular in mainland China can hardly find a corner there. Channels from North Korea are also accessible, but Yanbian people are not very interested in them.

"People of Yanbian have been fascinated by everything of South Korea, and South Koreans are also fascinated by our city. Many youths here have made it one of their goals to be working in South Korea," said Dongyuan, himself a Choson.

But this fascination with South Korea does not extend to their brothers and sisters in North Korea. "Because they [North Korean] are so poor and private business is highly restricted in that country, only companies owned by Han people or state enterprises here will do business with them," Dongyuan explained. "Personally I am only interested in purchasing Kaesong ginseng and newly issued notes from North Korea, which can be sold as souvenirs. I have no interest to give even a glimpse at Pyongyang."

As a matter of fact, opportunities for working in South Korea are many for those Koreans living in Yanbian. First of all, there is no language barrier. Second, they receive bilingual education in schools. On the other hand, they, together with North and South Koreans, belong to the Tungus Clan and have the same blood flowing in their body.

Furthermore, South Korea's increasing investment in northeastern China expands the demand for translators between Chinese and Korean cooperative partners. Consequently, the number of Yanbianers working for South Korean companies and passenger traffic between Yanbian and South Korea are rising.

Dongyuan has also benefited from this trade. After making a fortune, he now works as a tour guide and regards it as a relaxing pastime.

Travel to northeastern China has gained in popularity among South Koreans in recent years, and Yanbian is their first choice of destination. As a result, many South Koreans flood into Yanji every week and make a pilgrimage to Chanbai Mountain and Longjing city, two leading holy places.

"As early as in Koguryo Dynasty, which lasted from 37 BC to AD 668, Longjin had already been the capital city of Yanbian," said Dongyuan. "Not until the liberation of northeastern China [from Japan] did Yanji replace Longjin. The remains of Korean Daisung Middle School in Longjin are regarded as a sacred place for Koreans. Its founder, Yun Donju, is both a scholar and an anti-Japanese hero. Though enjoying little status in China's long history, he remains a sage in Korean history. In addition, Tianchi in Changbai Mountain [known as Paek Tu San in Korean] is regarded as the origin of all Koreans," remarked Dongyuan, reciting history from memory.

"Yet, same as other Chinese cities, Yanbian also demands economic development, which hinders protection of cultural heritage in Longjin, leaving some Chinese Koreans in Yanbian discontented. For many Koreans, only Longjin could be the justified capital city. But now the status has been granted to Yanji and it consequently enjoys better development over the past decades. By comparison, Longjin has almost deteriorated into a small town. Our heritage in Longjin, though the government also vows to protect it, gets mixed with other cultures and loses its original flavors.

"For example, Yun's Yi Song Pavilion is still kept on the site but it is lacking in supporting facilities and the local government even charges for admission. Several tablets with his poems have been corroded long ago, but no one seems to care about it. In the world where the Han race dominates, though Chosons might not be ignored completely, they will never be valued much either."

Dongyuan could not help showing his indignation. I asked him: "Since Yanbian is an autonomous prefecture administrated by Chosons, why don't you Chosons try harder to protect those things that you cherish?"

"If that heritage is located in a remote area, we may work out some methods to protect it," he replied. "But if it stands in the way of a provincial development plan, we can simply do nothing about it. In short, economic development always comes first. Besides, you may get a clue by looking at the race composition in provincial authorities," Dongyuan added, finally voicing the real obstacle of Choson heritage protection.

After more than 50 years of Chinese rule, the Chosons in this region are still quite aware of the difference between "you and I and "we" regarding their relationship with Han race. In its recent moves to send troops to the Sino-North Korea border, the central government attaches much more attention to Jilin than to Liaoning province. Clearly, besides the geographic factors, race relationship also plays a key role.