Denis Tyo (曺)

[Try to Run]

 

Koryo-Saram (the Soviet Korean phrase for a Korean person)

During the 19th century, the Joseon Dynasty's decline in Korea became blatantly apparent. The falling economic conditions meant that a small percentage of wealthy landlords controlled agriculture in the Peninsula, with their peasant workers struggling to survive. Many perished due to starvation and malnutrition over the decades. Resultantly, Koreans migrated out of the Joseon Dynasty and into Imperial Russia, starting in the 1850s. Korean emigration would continue into the 1920s, especially due to Imperial Japanese occupation, and the establishment of the Soviet Union. Korean immigration into Asian Russia was largely halted by the Communist regime in the 1920s.

 

In 1937, Stalin began a campaign of massive ethnic cleansing against the Soviet Korean people. The regime forcibly deported everyone of Korean origin living in the Russian Far East to the largely unsettled Steppes of Central Asia. Stalin viewed the Koreans as "unreliable people" and an enemy to the state, falsely accusing them of collaborating with the Imperial Japanese as spies. Many Koreans died while crammed into train cars that transported them into primarily Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. They arrived in the Steppes with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Similar to ethnic Germans, the only marking for a human settlement was a literal sign in the ground with a generic name and number. Deportees were expected to build their own settlements with what the land offered them. It was through this process that ethnic Koreans became widely renowned rice farmers in Central Asia. Although Korean community infrastructure such as schools, recreational centers and cultural associations were formed, the Soviet regime banned them in the 1940s. Their urban and rural enclaves were torn down and replaced with entirely Russian districts, where they were forcibly assimilated into Russian culture. Similarly, Koreans were prohibited from joining the Red Army during the Great Patriotic War, and instead many toiled away in the "Labor Armies" of Central Asia. They did this with other repressed ethnic groups such as Ukrainians, Chechens, Ingush and Germans.

 

By the 1950s - 60s, many Koreans had lost their "Koreanness" and only spoke the Russian, or to a lesser extent, Turkic languages. This happened while they were engaged with Russian customs and culture. Koreans were permitted by the Soviet state to return to the Russian Far East in the late 1950s. According to Russian and Kazakh demographers, most Koreans in Central Asia and Europe aren't purely Korean anymore. Many are ethnically mixed between Kazakhs, Uzbeks, Ukrainians and Russians. The majority of Korean youths are unable to read, write or speak Korean anymore. The Koryo-mar dialect of Korean, also known as the Koryo-saram language, is in a decline among younger generations. Many fluent speakers are considered elders, as they're middle aged and elderly.

 

(A map that shows the 3,700 mile trip from Far East Russia to Central Asia, Kazakhstan.)   

 

         

 (A picture of the DMZ, "de-militarized zone"; in the mid 2000s.  Two South Korean guards are seen,

 with a North Korean guard on the opposing side smiling to the camera.)

 

Denis Tyo was born into an ethnic Korean family in Kazakhstan in 1993. Tyo may have mixed Russian and Kazakh ancestry, considering his family had lived in Kazakhstan for over 60 years. He was likely raised in a Kazakh city until the late 2000s, when he emigrated to South Korea with his family. Many Soviet Koreans have slowly returned to South Korea in the 1990s on-wards. Prior to moving to South Korea, his family considered going to Russia instead. Tyo visited Novosibirsk with his parents for about two weeks in 1999. Shortly after, he obtained South Korean citizenship in his late teens. Around the same time, he was conscripted into the Republic of Korea's Army. He served 2 years as an Infantry Soldier and did a 6 month tour of the DMZ. He left the military in his early 20s after completing the tour. 

 

Throughout his 20s, Tyo started a family with a childhood friend and life-long love. He additionally finished a vocational education and was employed as a laborer in South Korea. In the late 2010s, Tyo legally immigrated to the United States with his family. He settled in San Fierro, SA. Shortly after settling in the city, he caught his wife having an affair with a local American man which ultimately changed him for the worse. He filed for divorce, and in the process lost half of his assets. The marital courts issued split custody, but this agreement is rarely honored. Tyo’s wife is with their kids in San Fierro, SA most of the time. He only gets to see his kids a few times a year.

 

Denis arrived in Los Santos somewhere around 2019-2021.  Since residing in the city, Tyo can be seen within the area of Little Seoul & Vespucci working blue-collar labor, menial service jobs and at times petty crime. He suffers mild PTSD from his years in the South Korean army and has heavy drug and drinking problems. 

 

Edited September 19, 2021 by Try to Run

[Vilbar]

damnn looking good

[Wavy]

My boy always the one to impress. 

[MeyrChpok]

sälem👋