De-Bordering Korea by Gelézeau Valérie; De Ceuster Koen; Delissen Alain

Author:Gelézeau, Valérie; De Ceuster, Koen; Delissen, Alain
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor and Francis

7

Confronting Korean identities in post-Soviet Kazakhstan

Eunsil Yim

Originating in the populations deported from the Russian Far East to Central Asia in 1937 and estimated to number more than 400,000 people, the ethnic Koreans residing in post-Soviet states represent significant social enclaves of North–South confrontation beyond the frontiers of the Peninsula. Since the late 1980s, these groups (more than 180,000 people in Uzbekistan and over 100,000 in Kazakhstan and Russia)1 have been the object of a struggle for influence between the two Koreas. South Korea’s ostentatious presence in the post-Soviet space has, it is true, partly eclipsed North Korea, lending credence to claims that the North–South confrontation no longer constitutes a relevant paradigm. The huge economic imbalance between the two states in favor of South Korea is said to render past notions of competition obsolete (Yun Injin 2005: 34). In fact, their confrontation is imperceptible to the outside observer and this is for two reasons:

1It is situated in a specific social space in which various categories of actor are involved in a struggle over the legitimate definition of the collective identity of the Korean population.

2The particular configuration of the positions adopted by these identity entrepreneurs is constantly evolving in pace with ever-shifting power relations.

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