50th Meeting - Korean Diaspora: Why Do They Leave Korea?

Date: 20 August, 2021

Place: Zoom

Participants: Heajin Park 박사님, Aditi, Matthew, Faiz, Daniel, Vivien, Joshua, Rocky, 100 선생

We started our discussion with introducing why we came to be interested in this topic. Aditi was interested in the reasons why people left/leave Korea, while there are many students who study Korean subjects want to live and work in Korea. There must be multiple reasons, but the term 'Hell Joseon' rings the bell in terms of revealing How Korean people think about the living conditions in Korea. Vivien's interest was more from her own experinece with the Korean friends and migrants around her - more specifically, what led them to live in Australia? Faiz had similar interest, but wanted to compare the Korean migrants' cases with his own experience as a migrant. Daniel's interest was more specific and focused on the case of 고려인 in Central Asia. He learned about the forced migration of Korean people from the Maritime Siberia to the Central Asia during the Soviet period, and came to wonder how they and their decendents define their Korean identity. Matthew was interested in the history of the Korean migrants - their motivations of migration over time.

A brief introduction of the Korean migration history as well as the history of Korean migration to Australia was given by 100선생님.

In the main discussion, we discussed about various topics; how much the lax Korean adoption law contributed to the mass 'orphan export', who had to leave and who could stay, and the Korean culture that made domestic adoption difficult. Like in last year's meeting, our discussion led us to the issue of diaspora's individual and collective identity whether it is shaped by others or chosen by onself. Overall, I think it was an absorbing session that will lead us to various topics in contemporary Korean society.

Lastly, I thank 혜진 박사님 for sharing her time and thoughts with us. It was great to learn from an expert!