Motivational Factors for Civic Engagements in a Host Nation: Centering on Koryuin Migrants in South Korea

Recently, many descendants of the Koryuin diaspora are returning to their ancestors’ homeland, South Korea, for work and a better life. The current study examines the social capital and the civic engagement of family-unit Koryuins living within one of the largest Koryuin ethnic enclaves, Hambak village in Incheon, to understand how they contribute to democracy in a host nation. As to how Koryuins identify and use social capital, findings of in-depth interviews show that the participants have close-knit bonding capital through their family and friends’ network at the individual level. At the community level, there were much online capital on social media communities. And Koryuin-founded grassroots organizations were important capital for the participants. Yet, both online and grassroot organizations were weak ties. As to why participants engage in civic engagement, findings suggests that the desire to settle down and raise children in Korea function as an important motivational factor. Moreover, local community was found to provide much needed resources, which allowed and prompted them to be good members of the society. The authors argue that the strong desire to settle down and raise their children in Korea so that their children can be successful have led Koryuins to act in good morals and be active in civic duties.