Spatial Mobility and Dispersion of Ethnic Koreans: The case of Korean-Chinese in Seoul

• In Event: 452 - Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 07. Race, Ethnicity, and Identity

Abstract

Residential integration is a key to understanding social integration and assimilation of immigrants. The existing scholarship on spatial assimilation and residential segregation concerns immigrants in western societies, and this study is a preliminary attempt to explore the association between residential and socioeconomic assimilation in Asian context through the case of Korean-Chinese immigrants. While race is a powerful variable in explaining residential pattern in the West, ethnicity and ethnic relations rather constitute group dynamics and social outcomes for immigrants in Korea. Hence, the current study reviews the existing literature on ethnic enclaves in Korea and conducts in-depth interviews with naturalized Korean-Chinese to explore how the highly stigmatized ethnicity influences manifestation of the spatial patterns and mobility. The interviews suggest that classic spatial assimilation theory largely holds in Korea. As incoming Korean-Chinese become accustomed to their lives in Korea, they move out to vicinity areas near immigrant enclaves, where moderate ethnic concentrations are found. Over the long run, their ultimate goal is to move elsewhere within the city where Koreans are the majority and eliminate any traces their ethnic linkages to China. These Korean-Chinese are highly motivated to acculturate for full-inclusion into Korean society, and their in-group associations diminish with distances.

Authors

• Hwajin Shin, Korea University

• In-Jin Yoon, Korea University