Gangs

<__Members of the Sicilian Mafia, or Cosa Nostra. Known to be the "father" of crime syndicates__.> Asian crime syndicates have been prominent in certain parts of the world for some time. They can be found in large cities of their country, or in cities of other countries, such as Miami, New York, and Los Angeles of the United States.

 The ones focused on in this page are the Japanese Yakuza, the Korean Jopok/Kkangpae, and the Chinese Triad; these are all mafias of their respective countries. They commit organized crimes such as laundering, extortion, blackmail, murder, etc.

<__Members of the Yakuza.__> The Japanese Yakuza is arguably the most influential of the three organized crime syndicates. Unlike the others, they are more accepted by society and are also open about their operation, even putting up signs indicating their presence. Members can be found in Japan as well as in countries with large Japanese communities.  They are believed to have been originated sometime during the Tokugawa shogunate. During the transition into a time of the Tokugawa shogunate, people called the kabuki-mono, nicknamed crazy samurais, lost their role in society. They formed groups so that they didn't feel left out. Unfortunately, their services were no longer needed, and so they turned from community service to theft and mayhem.

<__The Yakuza hierarchy__.> Today, they boast an incredible number of members currently at around 100,000 -- the Sicilian mafia only has about 5% of that, at 5,000 members. They are an integral part of the Japanese society and culture, and have become an identifying factor of the country Japan.

<__Members of the Triad attending the funeral of a respected Triad leader.__> The Chinese Triad is no group to mess around with. They are based in Hong Kong, Macau, China, and other countries with large Chinese communities. The Chinsese Mafia, like all others, are made up of many smaller gangs. Sun Yee On is known to be the greatest of the gangs, currently with more than 40,000 members. The entire Chinese mafia today has a incredible 1.5 million members and growing. <__The Triad Hierarchy. Numbers are numeric codes used by the Triad.__> It is believed that the earliest signs of the Triad trace back to 1000 B.C. Peasants formed groups to protect themselves against their corrupt leader. The gangs formed during the Hung Society in the 18th century, and worked to bring opium from foreign vendors -- much like every other gang does today. Later in the first half of the 20th century, Chiang Kai Chek used the gangs as they served to assault anyone who spoke against the Kuomintang. Soon, in 1949, following the Communist takeover by Mao Zedong, many Triad members were forced to flee from China into countries they are found in today, such as Hong Kong and Macau, where new gangs developed and the Triad grew in power.

<__Depiction of a Korean gang in a movie -- a photo of the actual Korean gang is hard to find.__> Of the three, the weakest and least influential is the Korean Mafia. The Korean Mafia can be divided into gundals (건달), yangachis (양아치), and jopok (조폭). The former two are words for street gangs, and the last of the three is the word for organized crime. Korean gangs were also formed due to patriotism/nationalism, much like those of the other two countries mentioned above. Their origins can be traced back to the times of Japanese occupation. Korean gangs fought against the Yakuza for years -- a fight that would be dominated by the Yakuza today. After World War 2, the Japanese were gone but Korea was left in terrible condition with little resources. The Rhee government, which took control over the country following the departure of the Japanese, worked together with the Korean gangs to maintain control over the country and also provide resources. This obviously corrupt government was overthrown in 1960 during the April Revolution. Today, Korean gangs are scattered around Seoul, Busan, and Deagu in Korea. They can also be found places with large Korean communities, such as Los Angeles, Florida, Dallas, and more. No specific statistics as to how many members are present do no exist, exhibiting their weak infrastructure and minor influence they have cast. Furthermore, they operate much more privately than the Yakuza due to the Korean government declaring war against organized crime in 1990. The Korean government eventually incarcerated thousands of these gangsters and those who weren't have gone into hiding.

The three mafias have many similarities and differences. For one, they all can be found internationally. Second, they all formed out of nationalism/patriotism. Finally, they all participate in similar activities. The differences, however, separate one from another and determine which mafia is the most powerful. Of the three mafias, in terms of sheer power, the Triad would be the strongest, much like the Chinese army manpower versus the American army manpower. However, in terms of influence, the Yakuza would be the most powerful -- its influence is so strong that it holds share in the owning of Japan. The Yakuza operate publicly with nothing to hide. Embarrassingly, the Korean mafia is the most powerless and least influential. It is not unified, it has no known hierarchy, and it has the weakest infrastructure.  To conclude, the Japanese Yakuza and Chinese Triad have come a long way and have been successful, while the Kkangpae have a lot of work to do to catch up with these powerhouses.

Sources: Self-Evaluation: