Abstract:
In this thesis on national membership and identity, I examine Korean Chinese perceptions of South Korea’s commitment to multiculturalism and the consequent social and ideological changes that Korean Chinese experienced in South Korea, in terms of their migration and settlement. I analyse South Korea’s concept and practice of citizenship in this transitional era and I delineate the influence of the changing ideas and practice of citizenship on Korean Chinese in terms of their ethno-national and cultural consciousness. Korean Chinese perceptions are important because they are the largest “co-ethnic”, migrant and “naturalised citizen” group in South Korea. Their being influenced by a variety of types of nationalism and multiculturalism in South Korea and China also adds to the significance of their perspectives as they provide alternative points of view by revealing the complicated internal and external complexities that South Korea currently faces. My analysis is based on data from interviews with and participant observation of 60 Korean Chinese in South Korea and China in 2010; email interviews in 2011 with 60 Korean Chinese dispersed worldwide; and my review of existing research and government policy documents. The introduction of email interviews gave me some specific insights that I would not have been able to obtain if I confined my study geographically to South Korea and China. My thematic and comparative analysis of data draws from theories of nation and nationalism, multiculturalism, migration and identity constructions, and is grounded in the data itself. My research is an early attempt to study Korean Chinese in South Korea’s multicultural context and in the wider context of the competing notions of Korean nationalism and Chinese nationalism. By including people who have not been a focus previously, and by examining leading contradictions that have received little attention before, my research better reflects the Korean Chinese community, and creates a more complete picture of Korean Chinese transnational migration. I found that the identities of Korean Chinese, which have already been complicated because of the competing forces of South Korea and China, have become increasingly diversified in the face of recent changes in South Korea. The perceived discriminative nationhood of South Korea and its social transition brought a sharp division of opinions amongst Korean Chinese in terms of their understanding of ethnic and cultural homogeneity. Multiple and flexible identities were highlighted from the frequent discordance between their self-identification during interviews and the identities revealed from their remarks to the interview questions. A transnational identity was indicated from people inclined to readjust their national identities in the host society. I also found that Korean Chinese have flexible understandings of citizenship, which contradicts their relatively firm understanding of ethnicity and nationality. This is because of their understandings that ethnicity and nationality were transmitted by birth or through inheritance from their parents, while citizenship was achieved when they were accepted into a country’s political framework through legal processes. My study contributes to the scholarly discussions on national membership, and deepens the understanding of Korean national identity. Reconsidering national membership is important given that the claim that South Korea is homogeneous has been officially abandoned; and that the national boundary has been blurred by the increasing outflow of South Koreans and the influx of migrants. I found that multiculturalism has broadened the idea of Korean national membership, but only to limited extent, and the ethnicity-based concept of membership still thrives in South Korea, as was revealed from South Korea’s request of proof of the blood ties for the Korean diaspora to gain South Korean citizenship, also from the hierarchal orders between South Koreans by birth and by naturalisation. Naturalised citizens often have difficulty in obtaining national inclusion in South Korea. This highlighted different dimensions of citizenship. A contradiction to the ethnicity-based concept of nationhood was that it was not wide enough to easily embrace co-ethnics if they do not meet the requirement of naturalisation or even if they do, in some cases. My findings suggest that hierarchical orders exist in South Korea between different migrant groups or different co-ethnic groups, based on their country of origin, occupations and the capital they brought to South Korea. Hierarchical orders even exist within a migrant group or a co-ethnic group. Korean Chinese resented being put low in the hierarchy. Ironically, they often facilitated the formation of the hierarchy, with their strong sense of entitlement. Key words: South Korea, Multiculturalism, Korean Chinese, Ethnic Return Migration, Citizenship, Ethno-national Consciousness, Ethnic Nationalism, Membership, Co-ethnic Preference.