Korea’s Migrants: From Homogeneity to Diversity – An Asian Survey Special Section

Korea’s migrants have diversified in recent decades. A special section of the journal Asian Survey gathers articles that address this development by examining issues of class as an analytical lens in addition to ethnicity and citizenship, and also by considering the contributions of migrants from both human and social capital perspectives. By doing so, the authors aim to provide a better understanding of the varied experiences, realities, and complexities of Korea’s increasingly diverse migrant groups.

In this introduction to the special section, coeditors Gi-Wook Shin and Rennie Moon explain the growing diversity of Korea's migrants, outline current literature on the country's migrant groups, and review the four articles in the special section and their contributions to the understanding of the growing heterogeneity and complexity of Korea's migrants.