Unending Journeys: Migration Trajectories of Korean Im/migrants in South Africa

The history of Korean im/migrants on the African continent is relatively recent and on a smaller scale compared to Korean diasporas elsewhere. Migration from South Korea to South Africa does not fit the stereotypical migration pattern from a country in the Global South with a lower income to a higher income country in the North. Hence, it is difficult to explain by either conventional migration theory focusing on income discrepancies, or the neo-classical and functionalist push-and-pull model. Drawing on in-depth interviews, this study aims to map out the spatial trajectories of migration taken by Korean im/migrants to, from, and within South Africa. Central to this work are the multi-directional and onward geographic migratory trajectories. Complex issues and motivations that have informed these embodied movements and migration trajectories are explored. In tracing the migration trajectories of Korean im/migrants to, from and/or within South Africa, this study examines the economic and socio-cultural dynamics of migratory trajectories and migrants' changing subjectivities. This facilitates analysis of the way in which lifetime migration trajectories are enmeshed within the socio-economic and cultural circumstances of both origin and destination countries.