Abstract:
This article examines the construction of the no tion of "homeland" among ethnic Koreans in China. Before the establishment of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, "homeland" meant Korea for Korean Chinese. During the Cul tural Revolution, however, they accepted the PRC as their "father land." After the Cultural Revolution, they could re-emphasize their "Korean" identity. Until the mid-1980s, ethnic Koreans in China were culturally and politically closer to North Korea. They were reconnected to South Korea in the 1980s, and many began to migrate there, mainly for employment opportunities. When the South Korean government restricted their entry visas, Korean Chinese claimed their right to "return to the homeland." They rationalized this claim by recalling their ancestors' anti-Japanese struggles in China. In their newly connected ethnic homeland, however, Korean Chinese experienced discrimination and alien ation as low-paid migrant workers. As a result, they developed nostalgia towards China, their natal homeland. At the same time, Korean Chinese migrants culturally distinguish themselves from their co-ethnic South Koreans. This is exemplified in "Homeland Dog Meat Restaurant" fèl It ) with which they claimed dish is different from (and superior to) the same dish Korea. The Korean Chinese case illustrates the competing of "homeland" among ethnic return migrants which even more complex in the context of identity politics.
