ABSTRACT
The ferocity of Korean nationalist discourse is in part the flip side of the weakness of traditional Korean autonomy and identity. The South Korean state remained largely indifferent to the diasporic population until the early 1990s – with the onset of internationalization policy of the newfound democratic regime – but it had done much to promote South Korean emigration. In the extant literature on Korean or any other diaspora, the priority of the nation is taken for granted. It is precisely because there is something called Korea and Koreans that there is Korean diaspora. Korean nationalism may in part be Korean diasporic nationalism, but it would be misleading to believe in the existence of a unified diasporic Korean consciousness or ideology. The idea of Koreanness in globalizing South Korean discourse remains very much a figment of South Korean government and business interests.
