Offspring of early emigrants to Mexico, Cuba invited to Korea

A Cuban girl of Korean ancestry was surprised to spot familiar faces in the Museum of Korean Immigration History in Incheon on Tuesday.

“I was taken aback to see a photo of my maternal great-great-grandparents. I saw their photo at home,” Mei-Lai Contreras Fong, a 17-year-old from Cuba, told local news media. “The photo struck me that Korea has not forgotten us.”

Her maternal grandfather’s grandfather was one of almost 300 Koreans who went halfway across the world by ship to Mexico in 1905 before emigrating again to Cuba in 1921. 

It took about 100 years for one of his descendants to set foot on the soil of his homeland and find his traces in Korea.

“I was told that they emigrated from Mexico to Cuba because it was too hard to live as a farmhand on a Mexican plantation. They moved to Cuba at least for better weather.”

She is one of 40 descendants of early Korean emigrants to Mexico and Cuba who were invited by the Seoul-based Overseas Koreans Foundation to visit Korea. They consist of 30 Mexicans and 10 Cubans.

On an eight-day trip from Aug. 13-20, they will visit Daejeon, Ulsan, Jeongju and Gyeongju to learn about Korean culture and history as well as observe Korea’s economic developments.

The Museum of Korea Immigration History in Incheon was the first stop on the itinerary.

The museum exhibits records illustrating the hardships experienced by the 1,033 early Korean emigrants who departed from a port in Incheon and arrived in Mexico in 1905, including 288 who re-emigrated to Cuba in 1921.

“They will feel proud to be Korean descendants when they directly see the traditional culture and development of their motherland,” said Cho Kyu-hyung, president of the foundation.

Established in 1997 as a public organization under the Foreign Ministry, the foundation commemorated the 100th anniversary of Korean emigration to Mexico in 2005.

As an extension of the commemoration, it launched a vocational training program for Korean descendants in 2006, and first invited them to Korea in 2012.

By Chun Sung-woo (swchun@heraldcorp.com)