The end of ethnic nationalism? Changing conceptions of national identity and belonging among young South Koreans

Abstract

Historically in South Korea, ideas of nation and nationalism have been based upon the ethnic and cultural homogeneity of all Korean people. More recently, there has been an evolution in South Korean nationalism that is based on strikingly different notions particularly among young people. This paper argues that a new South Korean nationalism is emerging and that it has, what I term, globalised cultural characteristics. These characteristics challenge the role of ethnicity in young people's conception of the South Korean nation and its component members. This paper details the evolution of South Korea's nationalism and explains its implications for Korean politics and society as well as its comparative significance for other national contexts. It also highlights some elements of this evolving nationalism that demonstrate less cosmopolitan characteristics, such as patriarchy and social class, in determining who can be 'imagined' as a member of this changing South Korean nation.

Why We Cheer for Viktor Ahn: Changing Characteristics of Sporting Nationalism and Citizenship in South Korea in the Era of Neoliberal Globalization

“…Thus "a kind of competitive or strategic cosmopolitanism" serves to create competitive "global citizens" who can survive in the broader contexts of flexible neoliberal regimes (O'Neill & Mitchell, 2016). In specific relation to discussions of Ahn, not everyone can cross borders with such ease-which is to say that the social foundations of cosmopolitanism, such as class and citizenship privilege, must not be overlooked (Calhoun, 2008). It is indeed counterintuitive that so many people consider as role models those few who enjoy the rarified status of world-class athletes, even when the latter engage in such an unusual activity as immigration to a new country.…”

“…As mentioned, much of the academic discussion has concerned whether Korean nationalism is waning in the face of neoliberal globalization. Campbell (2015), for example, has argued that traditional ethnic nationalism has been declining in Korea, especially among young people, in favor of new notions that she termed “globalized cultural characteristics” and that are based on the concepts of modernity and cosmopolitanism (p. 483). Globalization and nationalism are not, however, incompatible (Shin, 2006; Yang, 2012), and Korean nationalism has, as observed, persisted throughout the country’s process of globalization.…”

The Construction and Embodiment of Dis/Ability for North Korean Refugees living in South Korea

“…As Chung (2008) argues, the 12-week education that North Korean refugees receive at the resettlement facility ( Hanawon ) is intended to make North Korean refugees into “cultural citizens” who will leave behind their cultural practices and adopt the norms of middle-class culture and South Korea’s capitalist economy (p. 12). Campbell (2015) further argues that acceptance of North Korean refugees and foreign immigrants within South Korean culture depends less on their ethnic or geographical background and more on their capacity to demonstrate attributes that are valued in a globalized South Korea (e.g., competitive education and workforce skills, English proficiency, and the consumption of material goods). From this perspective, North Korean refugees’ background, removed from elements of globalization and the influence of Western culture, makes their acceptance into South Korean society more difficult than for many nonethnic Korean immigrants.…”

“…Despite the historical and political construction of North Korean refugees as part of a singular Korean ethnicity, the separation of North and South Korea has created a cultural divide. This divide positions North Korean refugees outside of the predominant ethnic Korean identity in South Korea, one that is increasingly shaped by a culture of globalization and competition (Campbell, 2015). The experiences of school-age North Korean refugees provide insight into how they are excluded from a culturally ethnic identity in South Korea.…”

Becoming cosmopolitan women while negotiating structurally limited choices: The case of Korean migrant sex workers in Australia

“…Park and Abelmann (2004) observe that ‘the idea of what it means to be South Korean is transforming: increasingly, to be South Korean means to be South Korean “in the world”’ (p. 649). Campbell (2015) writes of the emergence of a new South Korean nationalism that has ‘globalised cultural characteristics’, and that among younger Koreans ‘the new globalised cultural ideas of nation and nationalism are based in the concepts of modernity, cosmopolitanism and status’ (p. 484). In this context, the mastery of the English language is increasingly seen as a proxy measure of one’s cosmopolitan credentials, and millions of Koreans have come to embrace the potential of living abroad to improve their fluency (Kang and Abelmann, 2011; Park, 2009).…”