Intergenerational Comparison of Korean Community in Chile: 1.5 and 2nd Generation Profile

By Jung Eun Kim, Diego Portales University

Studies on adaptation process and profile of Koreans overseas are majorly studies taken place on the biggest communities that reside primarily in the US, China, Japan and former URSS.

Koreans in Latin America are a relatively new community and small in size, that represents 1,4% of the Koreans overseas population, thus studies on this groups have generally been limited to a reduced number of mainly descriptive papers. Within this reality, the Argentine and Mexican cases distinguish counting with researches from historic, sociologic, anthropologic perspectives.

For the Chilean case, we also count with a very scarce number of studies, in which a comparative research of Korean community with other ethnic minorities with presence in the country stands out.

Within this scenario, the present research has as a general objective to contribute with descriptive information on Korean community in Chile, using as reference theoretical frameworks and findings from studies conducted for the US case.

According to our view, the adaptation reality of Korean community in Chile presents convergence with the US case in terms of their adaptation process to the host country.

In specific terms, the present research aims to deepen the descriptive information on young Korean-Chileans (1,5 and 2nd generation) in comparative terms to the findings we can observe for the 1st generation.

The study combines exploratory and conclusive elements. We have gathered information from the existent published articles on the matters, in depth interviews and data obtained through the application of a survey to a total of 113 adult members of the Korean community in Chile.

The information obtained is analyzed grouped in terms of four dimensions we have categorized as: economic activity, discrimination, educational attainment and social up scaling and dependence to the ethnic network.

Download file:JRP-2008-2009-Julie-Kim.pdf

Published: Tuesday, October 27, 2009