A Case Study on the International Students’ Identity of Korean descent from Egypt: Exploring the idea of next-generation identity.

• In Event: Identity, Advocacy, and Transnational Experiences for International Students

Proposal

A Case Study on the International Students’ Identity of Korean descent from Egypt: Exploring the idea of next-generation identity.

Introduction
The size of the overseas Korean community has steadily expanded, now estimated to be around 7.5 million (MFA(Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Korea), 2023). It is evaluated to have reached its peak, and in the future, the number of returning Koreans is expected to surpass those emigrating abroad (MFA, 2023). Importantly, in June 2023, the Overseas Koreans Agency was established under the MFA of the Korean government. Its future policy goals include addressing the return migration of overseas Koreans, supporting their settlement as members of mainstream society in their countries of residence, and promoting the maintenance and strengthening of their Korean identity (Overseas Koreans Agency, 2023).
With global migration forming new immigrant groups, understanding their identity has received considerable scholarly attention (e.g. Conradson & McKay, 2007; Cheon, 2017). Transnational migrants’ identities can be often plural and hybrid, leading to confusion (Oh & Jung , 2006). However, the pluralistic expansion of identity can act as a mechanism for democratic social integration (Oh & Jung, 2006), making it important to examine their identities.
In this study, we explore the next-generation identity of Third Culture Kids (TCK) (Pollock & van Reken, 2008) in Korea, those who return to Korea after experiencing different cultures abroad with their return-migrant parents. We particularly selected participants who enter Korean universities through special admissions for overseas nationals.
While the most literature has focused on Korean TCKs who lived abroad with Korean nationality (e.g. Ra, Kim, & Kim, 2019), there has been little research on TKCs of Korean descent with foreign nationalities returning to Korean for seeking degrees in higher education. As they tend to be in their 20s and belong to the MZ generation, we bring the idea of next-generation identity to understand their transnational identity combined with the characteristics of the generation.
The previous literature on TCKs of Korean descent or with Korean nationality tended to include those from diverse countries and regions in one study or countries such as Turkey and those in Southeast Asia. On the other hand, research on TCKs of Korean descent in Africa is scares, and according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2023), Egypt has the fourth largest Korean population among the 18 Middle Eastern countries surveyed and the 55th largest among 193 countries worldwide. In addition, The rise of mobile technology and the internet has increased the consumption and preference for Korean cultural content in Egypt, making it an ideal country for cultural exchange (Jang & Jang, 2019). Accordingly, this study aims to investigate the identity formation among students who entered Korean universities through special admissions for overseas nationals from Egypt.

Literature Review
Identity is not a fixed entity but is continuously constructed, holding a contextual nature that varies according to social, historical, temporal, and spatial circumstances (Jenkins, 1996). Those who experience migration and encounter multiple cultures dynamically and continuously construct and transform their identities.
Third Culture Kids (TCK) have existed for a long time, but the concept of TCK was first coined in the 1950s by American sociologists Dr. John Useem and Dr. Ruth Hill Useem (Pollock, 2008, p. 45). This term is used to describe the phenomenon of children who grow up in the gap between two cultures, forming their own unique identity and culture.
Most studies on next-generation identity focus on countries with large Korean populations, such as the United States and Japan. For example, while 1.5 and second-generation Korean Americans tend to gradually lose their mother tongue, the advancement of communication technologies like the internet has made it easier for later generations to maintain cultural ties with their homeland, resulting in a distinctive next-generation identity that takes pride in their Korean identity (Yoon, 2019).
In addition, Lim (2023) presented a new model for categorizing the identity of Japanese Koreans. The third type, which includes next-generation Japanese Koreans, is characterized by weak ethnic and national identities and low attachment to Japanese society, while also showing an inclination toward global citizenship or the Korean diaspora.
Based on the literature review, this research aims to examine the next-generation identity formed through the transnational mobility of students who entered university through the special admissions process for overseas Koreans, after returning from Egypt, their country of residence.

Methodology
The research methodology follows Stake’s intrinsic case study approach. The goal is to understand the distinctiveness and specificity of the case itself (Stake, 1995:3)..
Participants will be selected from Egyptian Korean students enrolled in universities in the Seoul metropolitan area, with minimum experience of living in Korea for more than one year. Individual interviews will be conducted focusing on their experience and identity (their own definition of identity as Egyptian, Korean, or else) living in Egypt, identity formation or confusion in Egypt, their motivation to pursue higher education in Korea, identity formation or change in Korea and their own definition of identity as Egyptian, Korean, or else, their idea of next-generation identity as well as differences between them and other college students in Korea, and their future plan after graduation. Interviews will be recorded with participants’ consent, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using Nvivo program. Multiple coders will cross-check analytic procedures and draw findings, and findings will be shared with participants for member-checking.


Expected Results and Discussion
Return migration is not simply about returning to one’s home country. It involves complex connections between the host country and adaptation to the home country. Transnational migration may not signify the end but the beginning of a new migration (Lee, 2017). This study is expected to explore the unique context in which these students connect their home and host countries, Egypt and Korea in this case, however ‘home’ may be defined by participants. Through the findings of this study, we hope to better understand the new next-generation identity of overseas Koreans, distinguishable from that of previous generations. This could provide a foundation for developing support programs for next-generation overseas Koreans and propose new policy directions.

Authors

• JINJU LEE, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies

• Jae-Eun Jon, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies