Introduction to the Special Section Unsettling Korean Migration: Multiple Trajectories and Experiences

Abstract

The fi rst wave of Korean emigration began in mid-nineteenth century, when Koreans crossed over into China in search of unused land to cultivate and then to work in the industries that China, Japan, and Russia were developing in Northeast China (Manchuria) and the Russian Far East (Primorsky Krai). Some of these Koreans left their native land voluntarily; others were pushed by political and economic forces threatening their lives at home. We can only speculate as to how many of them had a clear idea of where they would end up or what was waiting for them there. The political climate in Northeast Asia in the fi rst half of the twentieth century, marked by a series of wars, colonization, and the partitioning of the Korean Peninsula into two separate countries, induced many Koreans into internal or international exile. While some earlier emigrants returned to Korea by the middle of the twentieth century despite ominous political and economic uncertainty there, Koreans continued to leave the peninsula in the second half of the century — this time mostly South Koreans who seized a range of voluntary migration opportunities and left for different parts of the world for various reasons. Today, sizable Korean communities are found in countries of East Asia, North and South Americas, Europe, Oceania, and Southeast Asia.