Cultivating Ethnic Solidarity in the Transnational Enclave: Co-Ethnic Relations Between South Korean “Newcomers” and Korean-Japanese/ Korean-Chinese “Oldcomers” in the Korean Enclaves in Osaka and Beijing

Recently, scholars have noted that migrants exhibit distinct patterns of adaptation characterized by frequent movement to their countries of origin. This influx of transnational migration has in turn, altered the structure of historically established minority communities. My research investigates how changes in the ethnic community brought on by transnational migration have shaped the ways ethnic minorities construct notions of ethnic identity, using ethnographic, interview and survey data conducted in the Korean enclaves in Beijing and Osaka.

The Korean enclaves in Beijing and Osaka are characterized by two distinct waves of Korean migrants: recent South Korean transnational migrants, and third- and fourth-generation Korean Japanese/Korean Chinese minorities. As a result of the growing number of South Korean newcomers since the 1990s, the Koreatowns in Beijing and Osaka today have become increasingly connected—both on the institutional and grassroots level—to the homeland. But rather than strengthen sentiments of ethnic identity, increasing contact to South Korea has led to the growth of formidable barriers in constructing a collective ethnic consciousness within the Korean community. Damaged co-ethnic relations between the two waves of Korean migrants have significantly hindered their ability to mobilize the rich transnational resources in the enclave for upward mobility. This paper brings to light the structural barriers Korean migrants encounter in cultivating ethnic solidarity in the transnational enclave. In doing so, I offer suggestions for social welfare policies that may aid transnational migrants in more effectively cooperating together to mobilize the resources of the enclave to better their life chances.