WAR AND DIVIDED MEMORY: THE TRAGEDY OF KOREANS IN UKRAINE IN THE RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN WAR

Abstract

Interest in the Korean national minority (community) of Ukraine is growing in proportion to the strengthening of the global influence of the Republic of Korea in the political, economic and cultural spheres. Over the past thirty years, the Ukrainian Korean minority (community) has also implemented “halla” (“Korean wave”). This is due both to the full integration of Ukrainian Koreans and to the establishment of close contacts of the Ukrainian diaspora with the Republic of Korea. The Korean diaspora is reliably integrated into the structure of Ukrainian society, and the history of the Korean people of Ukraine on a level with other diasporas is a unique example of peaceful and conflict-free coexistence. The purpose of the article is to study the tragedy of the Koreans in the Russian-Ukrainian war. The task is to investigate the participation of Ukrainian Koreans in the struggle for the liberation of Ukraine from the occupiers in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and TRO; to show the work of volunteer centers and humanitarian aid centers headed by Ukrainian Koreans; group the facts of the participation of Koreans from the post-Soviet space on the side of the occupier in Russia's war against Ukraine; analyzed the contribution to the anti-racist struggle of such a charismatic politician of Ukrainian-Korean origin as Vitaly Kim, whose philosophy became the basis for the creation of thousands of memes, merchs, which in a simple visual, often satirical form highlight the processes in wartime Ukraine. The novelty of the research lies in the very formulation of the topic. Further scientific research during the Russian-Ukrainian war, which stimulated the processes of national identity formation in accordance with the slogan of the European Union – “In varietate concordia” (from Latin. Unity in diversity) seems promising.