CNN reported on the 14th (local time) about the difficulties of second-generation Korean-American immigrants who went to the United States dreaming of the “American Dream” decades ago and returned to Korea in search of their identity, feeling confused and alienated in Korea.
Kevin Lambert, whose mother is Korean, grew up in North Carolina, USA. During his childhood, he recalled that he “always felt left out and left out” because he stood out from his white friends for his appearance.
Uneasy and alienated feelings continued even after he became an adult, he came to Korea in 2009 with the hope that he could “find the missing piece of the puzzle.”
CNN reported that like Mr. Lambert, second-generation children of Asian-American immigrants who settled in the United States in pursuit of the “American Dream” often head to Korea to find their identity.
CNN said, “It may seem strange that people who have never been to Korea would want to go, but those who oppose the rampant racism, gun violence and hate crimes against Asia in the United States are more likely to seek a sense of belonging in their ancestral homeland. ”and analyzed the background of their departure to Korea.
In fact, as of 2020, there were about 43,000 Korean Americans living in Korea. This is more than double the size in 2005.
Professor Steven Cho Seo, who studies Asian Americans at San Diego State University, explained, “Most of the immigrants who returned to Korea grew up at a time when the United States was dominated by strong stereotypes that remind people of Japan and China when they hear ‘Asian.’”
He analyzed that the experience of racism and not being recognized as a ‘perfect American’ made them precious, saying, “If they had fully integrated into American society, they would not think that way.”
◇ Returned to Korea, but still ‘discrimination’… Those returning to America
However, CNN pointed out that life in Korea was not easy in itself, and many second-generation immigrants mostly ‘reverse-immigrated’ to the United States.
Professor Seo revealed that as a result of interviewing about 70 people for reverse immigration research, everyone mentioned ‘race’, ‘racism’, and ‘ethnicity’.
Daniel Oh, who immigrated to the United States with his family when he was young, said that he experienced racial discrimination from a young age.
No matter how well he spoke English and knew the culture well, at best he was only recognized as the ‘best Asian American’, and he felt that he had not completely melted into it.
In particular, as a Korean-American, he said that it was the most difficult time to feel the ‘double standards’. She said that sometimes she is treated as a foreigner, but when she does not understand the doctor at the hospital, she is told, “Are you not Korean?”
Feeling left out, he headed to Korea, and when he first visited Seoul on a trip, he recalled that his personality and identity, which he felt uncomfortable living in the United States, felt comfortable in Seoul.
Before moving to Seoul in earnest, he said that whenever he traveled to Korea, he felt attracted to it, and eventually moved to Seoul.
He has been living in Seoul since 8 years ago. However, in Korea, he is also experiencing difficulties due to language barriers when he is looking for a house or opening a bank account.
He is experiencing the same things his parents experienced when they first lived in the United States.
Jiyeon Cho, director of the University of North Carolina’s Asia Center for California, analyzed the differences, saying, “Intra-ethnic discrimination occurs depending on which country you are a citizen of, but in the United States, racial discrimination between different races.”
Nevertheless, the difficulties he feels in everyday life are not different, so he returned to the United States in 2020 after 11 years of living in Korea.
Not only that. It is not easy for second-generation immigrants to meet the opposite sex in Korea. In particular, CNN analyzed that it is difficult for men to meet women unless they have a good job.
Contrary to South Korea’s conservative notion of women, he pointed out that second-generation immigrants are evaluated as “outright, immodest, and feminist.”
It is difficult for men to meet women unless they have a respectable job. It’s easy for her to become an English teacher, but it’s because she has to deal with visa and other issues to get another job.
As a result, CNN pointed out the phenomenon that many second-generation immigrants who headed to Korea with the hope of finding their identity did not feel a sense of belonging in both Korea and the United States, and eventually returned to the United States.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.