Transnational Migration of Koreans to the New York Metropolitan Area: Perspectives on Residential Selection and Relationship with Koreatowns (English Translation)

Abstract

This study explores the behavior of transnational migrants in a global city—in this case, Koreatowns in the New York metropolitan area. Global changes in post-war capitalism and US immigration policies attracted various Korean migrant groups to the New York metropolitan area. These can be classified as old-timers, who migrated before or during the 1980s in the hope of securing permanent residency, and newcomers—relatively young and highly educated professionals who have migrated since the 1990s. Old-timers typically relocate to the suburbs via ethnic enclaves, on which they are strongly reliant. In contrast, newcomers are dispersed across the metropolitan area, sometimes visiting Koreatown as a node of the ethnic human network or for Korean-style service. These distinctive behaviors mean that migrant characteristics change with the economic growth of emerging countries, in turn changing the urban space of global cities.