Abstract

This study analyzes the push-pull factors of migration and re-migration of Tatar Muslims living in Korea between 1920 and 1945 and their lives during this period. The research examines the relationship Tatar Muslims had with Japan, their views on Koreans, and their positions within the changing international context of expanding and intensifying Japanese imperialism. Tatar Muslims migrated to Korea due to Russia’s anti-Islamic policies, famine, and Japan’s pro-Islamic policies aimed at expanding its imperialism. Under Japanese rule, the Tatar Muslim community fully assimilated into Japan’s colonial project, supporting anti-communist policies, teaching Japanese language and history, and providing military support. Simultaneously, they maintained their Islamic and Tatar ethnic identity by establishing mosques and Islamic schools, organizing religious gatherings, publishing the Qur’an, inviting ethnic leaders, and sustaining their communities. This behavior led to indifference or ignorance of Korean aspirations for independence. Their consistent pro-Japanese stance and the spread of socialism were major factors in their departure from Korea after Japan’s defeat. The history of Tatar migrant Muslims exemplifies the strategic choices minority migrant groups made to survive amidst the maelstrom of 20th-century imperialism.