Excited to post this interview with
Sun Hee Koo
and Jihye Kim
about their Special Section "Unsettling Korean Migration." The 2021 KOREAN STUDIES volume comes out in May.---------------------------
KOREAN STUDIES 2021 Special Section Preview
Unsettling Korean Migration
Transnational Agency and Fluidity of Identity
A conversation with guest editors Sunhee Koo and Jihye Kim on the forthcoming Korean Studies Special Section “Unsettling Korean Migration”
The forthcoming 2021 volume of Korean Studies has the Special Section “Unsettling Korean Migration: Multiple Trajectories and Experiences,” guest-edited by Sunhee Koo and Jihye Kim. The journal editor Cheehyung Harrison Kim spoke with them about their ethnographic project on Korean migration, which is once again a topic of critical public dialogue in light of the recent racist violence against Asians in the United States.
- Sunhee Koo, Senior Lecturer in Anthropology at the University of Auckland, and
- Jihye Kim, Lecturer in Korean Studies at the University of Central Lancashire,
shared their thoughts on how the project came to be and what migration research further teaches us about identity formation and human agency.
Thank you both for speaking with me. Professor Koo: what compelled you two to put together a journal project on migration and diasporic practices?
We wanted to bring attention to the plurality and complexity found in the migration waves the Koreans have ridden on, which produced a myriad of experiences and ideas related to “Koreanness.” The range of social and cultural negotiations performed by Korean migrants manifests into not only who they are and what they want to become but also-and more importantly-individual agencies that constitute what “Koreanness” is today. Creating an interdisciplinary collection on migration related to Korea and Koreans was challenging, since the only thread that brought us together is “migration.” This Special Section might be perceived as missing some uniformity. However, we hope that the discursiveness of these articles points to the diversity that we need to recognize as Koreanists .
Professor Kim: What do you mean by “unsettling” migration? Are there existing notions you are trying to dismantle or move beyond from?
We are approaching migration as an endless act and an in-process journey, regardless of how long-ago migration may have taken place. Exploring the negotiations in the construction of diasporic identities, “Unsettling Korean Migration” showcases the emergent plurality of Korean identity manifested and embodied in individual migrants and each migrant group. In this sense, the very title picks up on two important characteristics of migration-fluidity and flexibility. These characteristics are also crucial in identity formation, which can never be separate from the journey of migration as the journey constantly prompts people to think about their being and belonging. At the same time, “Unsettling Korean Migration” shows how the lives of Korean migrants are marked by malleability and creativity in the process of movement, crossing borders, and settling.
Professor Koo: Your piece is on Koreans living in Japan. What are some key takeaways for the readers?
One key notion in my article is transnational agency, which enables the migrants to form a bridge between home and diaspora by embedding themselves in both national and transnational socio-cultural fields of their choice-as Zainichi Korean artists have done by associating themselves with South Korean national cultures. While their adaptation and transplantation of South Korea’s IICP (Important Intangible Cultural Properties) system in Japan reflect the Zainichi Korean communities’ grappling with postcolonial anxiety and diasporic identity, I intend to point out how Korean national culture is just as much transnational as it is historical and social. It has become individually re-signified and reinterpreted through transnationalism and globalization, even if its transnational aspects remain nuanced, especially back home, and are often overshadowed by nationalist discourses.
Professor Kim: You write about Koreans in Argentina. Could you tell us about their diasporic experience?
Korean migration to Argentina began in the 1960s as a part of South Korea’s migration wave to Western countries in the second half of the twentieth century. This migration may have been motivated by a longing for the West, equated with modernity and industrial advancement, and its promise of social and cultural mobility. Much more economically advanced and developed than South Korea back then, Argentina was one of the favorable destinations for Korean migrants, like many European migrants; and the Korean community in Argentina grew and became stable until the turn of the millennium. The socioeconomic environment of the host society, particularly the economic decline in the last few decades, has had a critical influence on the more recent movement and settlement of Korean Argentines, to the extent that many of them have strengthened their links with Korean communities in the United States and with the home country, as many have re-migrated either to the United States or South Korea. In these social and historical contexts, Korean Argentines have established and reestablished their identities and lives-and played a part in the Korean diaspora-by embedding themselves in and connecting with their home and host countries.
Professor Koo: Why do you think migration continues to be an important topic of research?
We are living in the “age of diasporas,” as Zygmunt Bauman has pointed out. The migrant experience with tension and dynamics related to separation and connection, leaving and returning, and loss and longing will endlessly compel us to reconfigure our being and belonging in the coming decades. The outbreak of COVID-19 last year has shown us how our transnational communities has faced sudden difficulties of disconnection and uncertainty of moving and returning. Today’s transnational migration is often thought to be without the problems of previous diasporas thanks to technological advancements, but the challenges the migrants face presently with geopolitical borders and border crossing are perhaps more intense than ever before. The age of diasporas continues to present us with endless topics and issues that we need to address in the coming decades, in order to understand who we are and how we live at local and global levels.
Professor Kim: What effects do you think global Korean migration have on South Korea and North Korea?
Since the 1990s, growing international mobility and transnational connectivity have brought about significant changes in South Korea, creating a culturally and ethnically more diverse and plural environment, with hybrid identities, mindsets, and lifestyles. Korean migration has made these changes even more active, as it fosters a variety of identities and agencies among those who live in, and between, multiple homes and residency statuses. Korean migration also reveals social and experiential plurality, both at home and in the diaspora, which mutually reinforces the ethnic complexity of Koreans. In the case of North Korea, although changes have been slower than South Korea, North Korean migrants, too, have certainly maintained connections between home and diaspora. In fact, North Korean migrants have played a crucial role in linking North Korea with the countries they have transited through or settled down, contributing to a better understanding of North Korea and a better communication for North Korea with the outside world.
The Spring 2021 volume of Korean Studies is to be published in May.
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